^r/ 




His Majesty the King of Siam 



The Kingdom of Siam 

Ministry of Agriculture 

Louisiana Purchase Exposition 

St. Louis, U. S. A. 

1904 

Siamese Section 



Edited by 

A. Cecil Carter, M.A. 

Secretary-General of the Royal Commission 



Illustrated 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 

^be Iknickerbockec press 

1904 



Copyright, 1904 

BY 

JAMES H. GORE 



Published, September, 1904 



JAN 11 1905 
D. of U< 






Ube ftnicberbocftcr press, l^cvo ^otk 



/ 

THE COMMISSION. 



President 
H. R. H. The Crown Prince. <SA' 

Vice '^ Pre s id en ts, 

H. R. H. Prince Devawongse Varopakar. 
Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

H. R. H. Prince Mahisra Rajaharudhai. 

Minister of Finance. 

H. E. Chow Phya Devesra Wongse Vivadhna, 
Minister of Agriculture. 

Secretary'^ General 

Mr. A. Cecil Carter, M.A. 
Department of Education. 

Menjt)ers, 

H. R. H. Prince Sanbasiddhi Prasong. 

H. R. H. Prince Marubongse Siribadhna. 

H. H. Prince Vadhana. 

H. E, Phya Vorasiddhi Sevivatra. 

H. E, Phya Sukhum Nayavinit. 

H. E. Phya Amarindra Lujae. 

H. E. Phya Surasih Visisth Sakdi. 

H. E. Phya Kamheng Songkram. 

H. E. Phya Sunthorn Buri. 

H. E. Phya Rasda Nupradit. 

H. E. Phya Kraibej Ratana Raja Sonkram. 

H. E. Phya Vijayadibadi. 

Phra Phadung-Sulkrit. 

Commissioner^' General 

Professor James H. Gore. 

The Columbian University. 



Pavilion, 

A reproduction of the principal building of Wat 
Benchamabopit now in course of erection in Bangkok. 



INTRODUCTION 

THE following notes on Siam have been written 
by high officials in different departments of 
the Government Service, and while in no way pro- 
fessing to give a full description of the people and 
country, each article is, as far as possible, an accurate 
statement of the existing conditions. These articles 
were written during 1903 and the statistics refer to 
this year and years anterior to this. There being 
as yet no standard for the transliteration of the 
Siamese characters each author has followed his 

own system. 

The Editor. 






CONTENTS 

CHAPTER 

I. — The Royal Family 
II. — The Government 
III. — A General Description of Siam 
IV. — Naval and Military Forces 
V. — Siam from an Historical Standpoint 
VI. — Language of Siam 
VII. — Religion of Siam 
VIII. — The Capital 
IX. — Finance 

X. — Currency and Banking 
XI. — Agriculture 
XII. — Forestry 
XIII. — Justice 
XIV. — Education . 
XV. — Archaeology 



I 

7 

17 
63 

77 

37 

93 
103 

127 

141 

151 
171 

183 
201 

211 



Vll 



Vlll 



Contents 



CHAPTER 

XVI. — Transportation and Means of Com- 



munication 
XVII. —Mining 
XVIII. — Commerce 

XIX. — The Industries of Siam 
Index .... 



227 

237 
247 
261 

273 




u 




ILLUSTRATIONS 



His Majesty, the King of Si am Frontispiece 

Her Majesty, the Queen of Siam 

His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince of 

Siam ..... 
The Royal Palace 
A Temple ..... 
Laos Family .... 
The Opening of a Canal . 
Lower Siam .... 

A Railroad Station, Lower Siam 
A Farm-house .... 
Ploughing ..... 
Primitive Irrigation . 
A Village Festival . 
An Elephant with Howdahs . 
Ministry of War 



4 

12 
26 

30 
32 
36 
40 
46 

50 

54 
58 
60 
68 



IX 



Illustrations 



The Royal Military College . 
Mounted Puket Police 
Menam River .... 
A Temple ..... 
His Majesty Landing at a Temple 
A Group of Priests . 
The City Wall .... 
The Royal Palace . . . 
The Saranarom Palace 
Bangkok Tramway 
The Port of Bangkok 
Canal in Bangkok 
A Street in Bangkok 
The Custom House 
Head Office, Railway Department 
Ploughing Ceremony . 
Planting Rice . . . 
Hulling Rice .... 
Army Headquarters . 
Threshing with Buffaloes 
Loading a Log .... 
Logging ..... 
The Ministry of Justice . 
A Buddhist Temple . 



Illustrations 


XI 




PAGE 


School for Girls ..... 


208 


Ruins at Ayuthia ...... 


214 


An Old Temple 


218 


Ministry of the Interior .... 


242 


Tidal Canal ...... 


252 


Making Rattan Ropes .... 


. 256 


Ministry of Foreign Affairs . 


264 


A Fishing Scene 


268 


A Ruined Temple ..... 


270 




CHAPTER I 

THE ROYAL FAMILY 



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Her Majesty the Queen of Siam 



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CHAPTER I 

THE ROYAL FAMILY 

HIS Majesty, Chulalongkorn, King of Siam of the 
North and South, Sovereign of the Laos, the 
Malays, etc., is the fifth sovereign of the Chak- 
rakri Dynasty, founded one hundred and 

. ^ The King. 

twenty-one years ago. His Majesty is the 
eldest son of King Mongkut, and was born on Sep- 
tember 20, 1853. He succeeded his father in 1868, 
reigning under a regency until he came of age. Since 
then His Majesty has introduced many important 
reforms, and Siam owes much of her prosperity to 
her King's energy and initiative. He works harder 
than most of his subjects, whose welfare he ever has 
at heart. In 1897, His Majesty undertook a jour- 
ney to Europe where he was well received and 
entertained by the European sovereigns whose 
countries he visited. This journey, like everything 
else His Majesty undertakes, was for the benefit of 
his country and his people and has already produced 

3 



4 Kingdom of Siam 

good results. He is a keen observer and he brought 
back with him many ideas formed or gathered during 
his travels abroad. He is the only independent 
Buddhist sovereign in the world and is therefore 
looked upon as the chief supporter of the religion 
of the Buddha. Under his wise and beneficent rule 
the future prosperity of Siam is fully assured, and 
her people, imitating the noble aims and efforts of 
their monarch, are destined to take a prominent 
position among the civilized nations of the world. 

His Royal Highness, Maha Vajiravudh, Crown 
Prince of Siam, Prince of Ayuthya, is the son and 
The Crown ^^^^ ^^ King Chulalongkom. He was 
Prince. bom on January i, 1881, and was pro- 

claimed heir-apparent on the death of his elder 
brother. Crown Prince Maha Vajirunhis, in January, 
1895. His Royal Highness went to study in Europe 
in 1893, being chiefly resident in England. He en- 
tered the Royal Military College of Sandhurst in 
1898, and also attended the School of Musketry, 
Hythe, where he obtained a certificate. He was for 
one month in 1899 attached to a mountain battery 
at the Artillery Training Camp on Dartmoor, near 
Okehampton, Devon. In 1900 he went up to Ox- 
ford University, studying history at Christ Church. 
In 1902, as a result of his studies he published a 




H. R. H. THE Crown Prince of Siam 



The Royal Family 5 

book entitled TIic War of the Polish Succession. 
During his stay in Europe, he represented his coun- 
try at several notable functions, the most impor- 
tant ones being Queen Victoria's Jubilee, 1897; 
Queen Victoria's funeral, 1901 ; King Alfonso 
XIII. 's accession, in May, and King Edward's 
coronation in June, 1902. Before returning to his 
country, he visited various European Courts, and 
made a tour in the United States of America. He 
also visited Japan on his way home. At the present 
moment, His Royal Highness is in command of the 
Royal Foot Guards and is also Inspector-General of 
the forces on the Staff of the Siamese Army. 

The King has several brothers, the chief one being 
His Royal Highness Prince Bhanurangsi, Minister 
of War and Commander-in-Chief of the 

The Princes. 

Royal Navy. The King's sons have all 
been or are going to be sent to Europe for educa- 
tion, so it may be hoped that they will support 
the King in carrying out his ideas and reforms. 
They have been sent to learn various professions so 
that when the time comes they may be the leaders 
in such professions. In a country like Siam, when 
princes lead others follow. We may therefore be 
permitted to look forward to a period of rapid 
advance for the kingdom of Siam. 



CHAPTER II 

THE GOVERNMENT 



'^ 









CHAPTER II 



THE GOVERNMENT 



IN such a country as Siam, where there is no writ- 
ten constitution, as there is in the United States, 
for instance, it is not easy to write of its constitution 
in the compass of a small article, at least in detail. 

Only the chief points are here explained. 

The Government is in form an absolute mon- 
archy all power being vested in the hands of the 
King. He is in theory, the master of life and death 
and the whole of the land is his property, but it is 
hardly necessary to say that this is not so in prac- 
tice. No one is ever condemned without a trial, 
and a line is drawn between government property 
and the King's private property. Improvements 
of the King's property are never paid for out of the 
public or government treasury. 

The King is assisted in his executive duties by a 
council of Ministers {Senapati), whose members are 
of equal rank. Portfolios are distributed as follows : 

9 



lo Kingdom of Siam 

1. Foreign Affairs — Prince Krom Luang Deva- 
wongse. 

2. Interior — Prince Krom Luang Damrong. 

3. War and Navy — H. R. H. Prince Bhanurangsi. 

4. Treasury — Prince Krom Mun Mahisra. 

5. Local Government and Police — Prince Krom 
Luang Nares. 

6. Public Works — Prince Chowfa Krom Khun 
Naris. 

7. Household — Prince Krom Khun Bidyalabh. 

8. Justice — Prince of Rajaburi. 

9. Agriculture — Chow Phya Devesra. 

10. Ecclesiastical Affairs and Education — Phya 
Vudhikara Pati. 

Under the Minister of Local Government is the 
Sanitary Board, with Chow Phya Devesra as Presi- 
dent. 

The Department of Public Works is divided into 
three sections, viz. : 

{a) Public Works. 

{d) Post, Telegraph, and Telephone. 

{c) Railway. 

The details of administration will be found de- 
scribed elsewhere. 

Besides the Council of Ministers, there are also a 
Council of State {RatJi Montri) and a Privy Coun- 



The Government ii 

cil {Aiiga Montr i), the members of which are ap- 
pointed by the King and hold their seats during 
His Majesty's pleasure. In the State Council the 
members perform the functions of a legislative 
assembly ; that is to say, whenever a new law is 
required it is presented to the Council in the form 
of a bill, and the Council debates upon it. If the 
bill is passed it must receive the sanction of the 
King before it becomes a law. The Privy Council 
has several members, and its functions are purely 
advisory. 

THE ADMINISTRATION 

The administration of the country was formerly 
divided between the three Ministers, the Minister 
for Civil Affairs and the Minister for Military Affairs, 
with the Minister of the Treasury as Governor- 
General. 

But in 1894 the internal administration was re- 
organized and the whole of the country placed 
under the administration of the Ministry of the In- 
terior {Mahathai) with the exception of the capital 
and surrounding provinces, which is administered 
by the Ministry of Local Government. 

At the head of the Interior Administration is the 
Minister appointed by the King with a seat in the 



12 Kingdom of Siam 

Cabinet; he is assisted by a Vice-]\Iinister, who, 
however, holds no seat in the Cabinet. 

The ancient provinces, whilst retaining their 
boundaries, are now grouped together into Mon- 
thons or Circles under High Commissioners, who 
are appointed by the King, but act under the orders 
of the Ministry of the Interior. 

The administrative staff of a monthon com- 
prises : 

The High Commissioner or Governor-General. 

The Deputy Commissioner or Deputy Gov- 
ernor-General. 

The Chief Law Officer. 

The Assistant Commissioner. 

The Chief Revenue Officer. 

The Commandant of the Gendarmerie. 

The Chief Treasury Officer. 

The Chief Public Works Officer. 

The Inspector of Jails. 

The Secretary of the High Commissioner. 

The Assistant Inspectors. 
The administration of each province comprises : 

The Governor. 

The Deputy Governor. 

The Public Prosecutor. 

The Treasury Officer. 





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The Government 13 

The Revenue Officer. 
The Gendarmerie Officer. 

Each province is again subdivided into districts 
under the district officer [AmpJuir), who is assisted 
by one or more assistant amphurs according to the 
extent of the district, and by a subordinate revenue 
officer. 

The district is again divided into villages under a 
village headman, and the villages are subdivided 
into hamlets under an elder. 

A hamlet is a collection of about ten houses or 
one hundred people, who elect their own elder under 
the presidency of the district officer. The ballot 
may be either open or secret and a bare majority is 
sufficient. The duties of the elder are to report any 
cases of crime to the headman and to preserve a 
register of people in his hamlet, to summon the 
people in cases of flood or fire, and to assist in 
arresting criminals. All the inhabitants are bound 
under penalties to assist their elders in the execution 
of the law when called on. 

A village consists of ten hamlets. The headman 
is elected by the council of elders and receives con- 
firmation from the governor of the province. 

His duties are to supervise the elders and to in- 
form them of any new government regulation, to 



14 Kingdom of Siam 

provide transport and assistance for persons travel- 
ling on government business, which must, however, 
be paid for by such persons, the headman having no 
power to requisition either goods or labor without 
proper payment. 

The district is composed of villages the total num- 
ber of whose inhabitants is not less than ten thou- 
sand people. 

The district officer or amphur is selected from 
among the assistant district officers or householders 
of the district. The governor of the province sends 
three or more names to the high commissioner, who 
selects one of them. He chooses his own assist- 
ants, but their appointment must be approved of 
by the governor and confirmed by the high com- 
missioner. 

All other appointments are made by the Ministry 
of the Interior. District officers, headmen, and 
elders must be Siamese subjects resident in their 
districts and take the oaths of allegiance twice a 
year according to their own form of religion. There 
is no religious disability. 

One most important feature of the administration 
is the meeting of high commissioners, who assemble 
once a year at the capital under the presidency of 
the minister to discuss and draw up the programme 



The Government 



15 



for the following year and report on the past year's 
work. 

Under the Ministry ot the Interior are also the 
Forest Department and the Mining Department; 
under the Ministry of Agriculture are the Survey, 
Land Record, and Irrigation Departments. 




CHAPTER III 

A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SIAM 



17 



CHAPTER III 

A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF SIAM BY THE DIREC- 
TOR-GENERAL OF THE ROYAL SURVEY 
DEPARTMENT 

SIAM, **The Land of the White Elephant," "The 
Land of the Yellow Robe," "The Country of 
the Tai," i. e.^ the Free, is situated in the south- 
east corner of Asia. Geographically it may be 
described as lying within the fourth and the twenty- 
first parallels of north latitude and between the 
ninety-seventh and the one hundred and sixth paral- 
lels of eastern longitude. 

Siam is bounded on the north by Tong-king 
(French) and the Southern Shan States of Burma 
(British) ; on the west by Annam (French) and Cam- 
bodia (French); on the south lie the Gulf of Siam 
and the Malay Peninsula stretching southward, and 
washed on the west by the Indian Ocean, and on 
the east by the China Sea, and bounded itself on 
the south by the Federated Malay States (British). 

19 



20 Kingdom of Siam 

The length of Siam, north and south, is about 
1 1 30 miles, and the breadth, at the widest part 
(latitude 15° N.), about $08 miles, while the area is 
242,587 square miles, a little more than Spain and 
Portugal together, and the total coast-line is 1760 
miles. 

The two most striking physical features are the 
Mekawng River (unnavigable for large vessels), 
which runs for a thousand miles along the northern 
and eastern boundaries, and the range of mountains 
forming the western flank of the upper part of Sianx, 
and which continues southward to form the back- 
bone of the Malay Peninsula. 

Bangkok, the capital of Siam, is on the river 
Menam Chao Phya, commonly called the Menam, 
and about thirty miles from the mouth of that river. 
This port lies at the centre of the base of the triangle 
which forms that part of the Menam valley to which 
has been given the name "The Garden of Siam." 
This base is one hundred miles long, and the height 
of the triangle is 124 miles, so that the area is over 
six thousand square miles. 

North of this area the country becomes more 
broken till the mountainous country of the northern 
part of Siam is met with. East of Menam valley, 
and lying between it and the valley of the Mekawng, 



A General Description of Siam 21 

is a large tableland, of no great elevation, not well 
watered, and therefore sparsely inhabited. The 
nature of these districts, however, is more minutely- 
described later on. 

The third great physical feature of Siam is the 
Isthmus of Kra, that narrow, low part of the Malay 
Peninsula which has so long attracted the eyes of 
engineers anxious to reduce the already shortened 
sea routes of the world. 

To give a clear idea of the country it is convenient 
to divide it into three divisions: Upper Siam, the 
hilly country ; Lower Siam (alluvial plains), includ- 
ing the eastern provinces (tableland); and the 
Siamese Provinces of the Malay Peninsula. 

UPPER SIAM — TERRITORY, CLIMATE, POPULATION 

— BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE INLAND 

REVENUE DEPARTMENT 

Upper Siam lies approximately between latitude 
16° north and latitude 21° north, and is drained by 
four great rivers, the Maping, the Mawang, the 
Mayom, and the Menam, each of which is divided 
from the others by ranges of mountains forming 
well-marked watersheds. These hills are chiefly 
composed of limestone overlaid by sandstone and 



22 Kingdom of Siam 

slate. This sandstone is ferruginous, and in some 
places iron conglomerate occurs as one advances 
southwards. 

From Chieng-tung in British Burmah there 
stretches right across Upper Siam in a southeasterly 
direction a line of disturbances or faults marked 
by a series of hot sulphur springs. The medicinal 
value of these springs is entirely neglected by the 
people, though, judging by their analogy to those 
of Japan, these springs should be of great therapeu- 
tic value. The four water systems run from north 
to south, nearly parallel to one another, for over two 
hundred miles, then converge, finally forming a 
single river, the Menam Chow Phya, the main artery 
of Siam. 

The soil in the valleys is chiefly a sandy loam of 
great fertility, composed of detritus washed down 
from the sides of the hills. 

The slopes of these hills were formerly covered 
with dense teak forests, but owing to the indiscrim- 
inate felling of timber for many generations are now 
covered with worthless jungle. 

The usual result of reckless clearing of the moun- 
tainsides is very evident ; through the centre of the 
district runs a broad belt of country, the natural 
features of which have been entirely altered by the 



A General Description of Siam 23 

decrease of rainfall, and the evergreen forests have 
been replaced by deciduous trees. 

The hillsides are cultivated by a nomad people, 
whose method is as follows : Having selected a site 
they fell and burn the forest trees, a most laborious 
work, and in the space thus cleared and fertilized 
they plant a crop of rice. After the first harvest 
the clearing is abandoned for two or three seasons 
to allow the soil to recuperate, the length of time it 
lies fallow depending on the depth of soil and the 
contour of the slope. 

A peculiar variety of rice is frequently planted in 
these clearings, which are marvellously productive; 
when ripe the ears of this rice are black, but when 
husked and boiled the grains are of a reddish color 
and a peculiar fragrance. 

In the valleys another variety of rice is largely 
cultivated, known as glutinous rice ; this rice is quite 
different from the white rice of Lower Siam, and 
only those people born and bred in these districts 
are able to subsist on this peculiar variety, though 
it is eaten in small quantities as a delicacy by the 
people of the plains. When eaten freely by those 
unused to it, the effect on the general health and 
constitution is most injurious, and for this reason 
the Government is making great efforts to induce 



24 Kingdom of Siam 

the farmers to substitute ordinary white rice in its 
place. 

Fish, which forms an integral part of the food of 
Lower Siam, is a rare luxury to the people of the 
north, the rivers of Upper Siam being markedly 
devoid of animal life, probably owing to extreme 
shallowness of the water in the dry season and 
rapidity of the current during the rains. 

This difference in the daily food forms one of the 
great contrasts between Upper and Lower Siam. 

The second most important agricultural product 
of Upper Siam is tobacco. This is generally planted 
after the subsidence of the rains on those parts of 
the bank which have been under water during the 
floods, though occasionally it is planted in the rice- 
fields as a second crop. The leaf is of a peculiarly 
fine texture and would probably displace foreign 
tobacco in the local markets were it cured by 
scientific methods. 

The method of curing it in vogue is extremely 
primitive ; the leaves are first plucked and then kept 
in the dark to allow a part of the natural moisture 
to evaporate. 

After this they are folded lengthways and placed 
one on another, then cut in cross-sections by a small 
hand machine ; after this the cut leaves are exposed 



A General Description of Siam 25 

to the sun for one or two days, and the tobacco is 
ready for consumption. 

A large proportion of this home-grown tobacco is 
used for chewing, mixed with the areca nut and 
betel leaf. Foreign tobacco is never used in this 
way. 

Tea grows wild on the slopes of the hills and is 
also cultivated to a small extent ; it is not employed 
as a beverage, but is pickled. After the leaves have 
been plucked they are exposed to the sun for two 
or three days and then steamed to remove tannin 
and glucose; the leaves are then thrown into small 
pits and weighted down, where tliey ferment. After 
fermentation they are ready for use. This product, 
known as micng^ is rolled into balls, and one of 
the balls is placed in the hollow of the cheek and 
allowed to remain there until the soluble constitu- 
ents of the tea have been extracted by the action 
of the saliva. 

The appearance of the people who indulge in this 
practice — and it is almost universal among the in- 
habitants of Upper Siam — is extremely quaint, the 
ball of tea making a huge swelling on one side 
of the face, as though the person were suffering 
from a severe attack of toothache. This method of 
using tea appears to be peculiar to Upper Siam; 



26 Kingdom of Siam 

the Burmans and Thibetans, although preparing the 
leaves in very much the same way, use it in quite a 
different manner. 

The cultivation of the poppy for opium, although 
in its infancy, promises to become of considerable 
importance. It is cultivated chiefly on the Burmese 
frontier by a race known as the Meow, who have 
probably become acquainted with the method of 
cultivation from the people under British rule. 

Other foodstuffs are planted to a minor extent 
but only for local consumption, c. g., sugar-cane, 
bananas, oranges, mangoes, limes, and various in- 
digenous fruits. 

The country has proved itself capable of produc- 
ing most European vegetables, and in many of the 
large towns cabbages, beet-roots, lettuce, carrots, 
etc., can be procured. 

There are no large centres of industry, but a good 
deal of work is done by people in their own homes. 

Most houses possess a loom, in which is woven 
both silk and cotton cloth sufificient for the needs 
of the household. 

The yarn and raw silk are mostly imported. In 
Chieng Mai, the capital of Upper Siam, a large quan- 
tity of lacquer-ware is made chiefly by the immi- 
grants from the old capital, Chiengsen. 




A Temple 



A General Description of Siam 27 

The foundation of this ware is woven bamboo; 
the frame is coated with a paste of wood oil mixed 
with bone ash, and when nearly dry a second 
coating of wood oil mixed with cinnabar is applied 
and allowed to harden. On the smooth surface 
thus produced the pattern is engraved by sharp 
tools and the incisions filled with a black varnish ; 
the whole is then rubbed smooth with pumice-stone 
and a final coating of varnish applied. 

Many specimens of this ware will be found among 
the Siamese exhibits. 

A small amount of native iron is worked, chiefly 
for the manufacture of knife-blades. 

Bronze casting must formerly have reached a high 
degree of excellence, but to-day is chiefly confined 
to replicas of existing work. Scattered profusely 
over the country are to be found bronze statues of 
Gautama, some life-size, many larger, but nearly all 
of artistic workmanship. The reason of the decay 
of this craft is probably due to the gradual shifting of 
the centre of the Siamese race to the south. The 
artists followed in the train of the Court, leaving 
behind them many magnificent specimens of their 
art neglected and uncared for. 

Silverware is manufactured to a small extent ; the 
workmanship, however, is crude, though possessing 



28 Kingdom of Siam 

a distinctive character. The designs are repousse in 
very high relief. 

A large amount of unglazed pottery ware is manu- 
factured, chiefly for domestic use, e. g., water-jars, 
cooking-pots, goblets, flower-pots, etc. Most of 
these are of their natural red color with an incised 
design, but the water-goblets are frequently black 
and of an elegant shape. Tiles about one-eighth 
inch in thickness and about four by three inches are 
largely made for local use. 

Sticklac is found wild, but the insect is also propa- 
gated artificially. When the insect settles on a tree 
the deposit is carefully collected and the insects 
grafted upon the trees which are found most suitable 
to their reproduction. The lac is obtained by 
breaking off the twigs ; the insects, which are nour- 
ished by the sap, then die, but certain of the twigs 
are left over to serve as the nucleus for the following 
year. Very little of this lac is used locally, the great 
bulk being exported ; it is prepared by boiling in 
water, the liquid giving a splendid scarlet dye and 
the residue a sealing-wax of a low melting-point. 

Many of the people are engaged in breeding oxen 
and water buffaloes. The oxen are in great demand 
as pack-animals and the buffaloes for agricultural 
operations and hauling lumber. 



A General Description of Siam 29 

To the east are large salt workings which not only 
supply Upper Siam but export to surrounding 
countries. The salt is extracted from the earth in 
a systematic manner; a well is dug, lined with tim- 
ber, and the brine hauled up in buckets. This brine 
is poured from the buckets into wooden troughs and 
then evaporated in iron cauldrons over wood fires; 
unfortunately, this salt possesses a peculiar bitter 
taste, said to be due to the presence of sulphate of 
sodium. 

Saltpetre for the manufacture of gunpowder is 
made from the excreta of the bats which haunt the 
limestone caves. The substance is collected and 
boiled with water in wooden vats furnished with 
bamboo tubes, by means of which the lye is drawn 
off. This lye is then concentrated and crystallized 
in the same way as the brine from the salt wells. 

A resin is collected in the forests and used for 
caulking boats. This resin is the product of the 
dammer-bee and is found in cavities in the trunks of 
trees. 

There are extensive cutch forests, but only the 
wood is used, as the people appear ignorant of the 
method of extracting the cutch. 

Upper Siam is famous for its boats, which at 
present form the only means of transport and 



30 Kingdom of Siam 

communication between Upper and Lower Siam. 
These boats are very strongly built, broad, roomy, 
but drawing very little water; they are either rowed 
or poled, and average about thirty-five feet in 
length. 

The number of these boats built is decreasing with 
the advance of the railway to the north, and when 
the country is in communication with Bangkok by 
rail the art of building them will probably die out. 
At present the journey from Bangkok to Chieng Mai 
occupies from three weeks to three months accord- 
ing to the height of water in the river. At the 
period of low water it is generally necessary to dig 
a channel for the boats through the sand-banks 
which stretch across the bed of the river. 

The average altitude of the country is about one 
thousand feet above sea-level. Chieng Mai, the 
chief town, has an altitude of one thousand feet, but 
within an hour's ride is the mountain Doi Sutep, 
of over five thousand feet, used as a health resort in 
the hot weather- 

The temperature over such a hilly country varies 
largely, but the average temperature of Chieng Mai 
(one thousand feet) may be taken as a mean. In 
1893 the average daily temperature for December 
varied between 53° F, (minimum) and yj'^ F. (maxi- 




1 



"i^ 



^ 











y 




^ 

' \ 



i 






:M:'V 



iP 2?: » 



'. .♦ 






,>^ 



A General Description of Siam 31 

mum) ; for March, the hottest month, between 6']° 
F. and 95° F. 

The rainfall is governed by the monsoon ; from 
November to April practically no rain falls; the 
total from May to October is about forty inches. 

The country is generally healthy, the principal 
diseases being malarial fevers and smallpox ; goitre 
and other diseases due to the limestone formation are 
common. Cholera is rare. 

Western methods of treatment and surgery have 
made great progress, entirely due to the noble 
efforts of the American missionaries, whose hospitals 
and dispensaries are always crowded by applicants 
for relief. 

The bulk of the population are Laos, a subdivision 
of the great Thai race; this race has many sub- 
divisions, of which the Siamese alone have as- 
similated Western civilization and maintained an 
independent position among the nations of the 
world. 

A few of the villages to the northwest are in- 
habited by a race called Mu Hsu or Meow, probably 
immigrant and of Chinese origin. Another sub- 
division of the Thai, called Lu, are found in the Nan 
district. These Lu have migrated to Siam within 
the last forty years, driven from their own country. 



32 Kingdom of Siam 

the Sibsong Panna, an independent country on 
the southern borders of China, by jts internal 
troubles. They are remarkable for their industry 
and trading capacity, and their villages are models 
of order and cleanliness. 

In the district of Nan are found the Yao, a people 
of Chinese origin and characteristics ; the men retain 
the queue and wear a turban flattened on the top ; 
the dress of the women is remarkable for its beauti- 
ful embroidery. Their head-dress is a flat structure 
resembling a gigantic college cap or mortarboard. 

Scattered over the whole country are found the 
Kamoos, whose home lies east of the Mekong; their 
work is the felling of the teak. Many return to their 
homes after having accumulated sufficient wealth; 
those who remain marry Laos women and settle 
down. 

In the west and southwest are found many com- 
munities of Karens, chiefly of the Pwo (white) and 
Bghai (red) septs. They are an agricultural race. 

Another branch of the great Thai race is found 
distributed over the whole kingdom. They come 
from the Shan country, which lies between Burmah 
proper and China. These people are great traders 
and deal largely in teak ; they form a wealthy and 
independent section of the community. 



A General Description of Siam 33 

The population of the provinces of Upper Siam 
may be taken as follows : 

Chieng Mai 225,000 

Lampun 45,000 

Lampang 100,000 

Nan go, 000 

Tern 10,000 

Pre 38,000 

Total 508,000 

The great bulk of the trade of Upper Siam is with 
Burmah and China, the transport to Bangkok being 
too costly. It is carried by caravans composed of 
mules, pack-bullocks, and carriers. The imports 
from China are chiefly brassware, ponies, and silk; 
walnuts are also largely imported, but rather as 
ballast than as a paying freight, as the caravans are 
usually thirty days e?t route. The imports from 
Burmah are chiefly piecegoods, opium, and ponies. 
The exports are chiefly sticklac, horns, hides, bees- 
wax, and imported goods. 

LOWER SIAM — BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE IRRIGA- 
TION DEPARTMENT 

Lower Siam embraces the extensive plain of the 
Menam Chow Pya, the main artery of the country 
and of the neighboring Bangpakong and 
Mekong rivers, whilst the adjacent plain 

of the Pechaburi River forms a transitional junction 

2 



34 Kingdom of Siam 

between the plains of Lower Siam and the Malay 
Peninsula. 

Lower Siam can be considered to begin about as 
far north as the junction of the Nam Ping and the 
Nam Po, the principal branches of the Menam 
Chow Pya, at a northern latitude of about 15° 20^ 
and stretches as a broad plain towards the Gulf of 
Siam, over a length of about 150 kilometres from 
the east to the west. 

To the west Lower Siam reaches to the hill ranges 
that separate Siam and Lower Burmah, and to the 
east it stretches to the hill range which separates 
the Menam basin from Korat plateau. 

The Menam Chow Pya is the most important river 
of Siam from every point of view. The river begins 
to bear the above-mentioned name at Paknampo, 
the junction of the Nam Ping and the Nam Po, its 
principal tributaries. 

The Nam Ping drains a rapidly sloping, compara- 
tively narrow valley, together with the adjacent 
mountainous regions, and shows somewhat the char- 
acter of a torrent running through a wide, sandy 
bed. A sudden rise and fall of some feet in a few 
hours, which is enormous for Siam, not infrequently 
occurs, and in the dry season the river is only navi- 
gable for very shallow craft. 



A General Description of Siam 35 

The Nam Po unites the slow waters of the Pitsnu- 
loke and the Savankoloke rivers. These, which are 
frequently interconnected, drain the extensive and 
flat upper Menam plain and adjacent hill regions. 
In the plain they show quite the character of lowland 
rivers, the water running calmly through deep beds 
and the banks to the storage capacity of the annually 
inundated swamps in the lowest parts of the upper 
Menam plain. Both are navigable for a good dis- 
tance upstream, even in the dry season. 

Below Paknampo the united river runs through 
the lower Menam plain. At Bang Klong Kiew and 
at Chainat the river gives part of its water to the 
Supan River and the Menam Nawi, and at Ban 
Takwai to the Lopburi River. The Supan River 
runs nearly parallel to the main channel and joins 
the sea at Tachin. The Lopburi River at Ayuthia 
joins the Pasak River, another principal tributary 
of the Menam Chow Pya, again. The Pasak River 
drains the long and extensive valley to the east of 
the Nam Po area. The Menam Nawi also joins the 
main channel again. About 250 kilometres below 
Paknampo, near Paknam, the main channel empties 
into the Gulf of Siam. 

The Menam Chow Pya carries down a great 
quantity of silt and sand, derived from the slate and 



3^ Kingdom of Siam 

sandstone formations of its catchment area, and at 
its mouth has deposited an enormous bar, which is 
a great impediment to navigation. 

The Bangpakong River receives its rather sluggish 
water from an almost perfectly flat catchment area of 
very gentle slope, bounded to the west by the Me- 
nam plain and on the other sides by low hill ranges. 

The Mekong River derives its supply from the 
extensive, rather high, densely wooded hill ranges 
and narrow valleys west of the Menam plain, and 
runs with a considerable fall and a fast current 
through the plain west of the lowest parts of the 
Menam plain. 

The whole lower Menam plain and the plains of 
the neighboring rivers show in all respects the most 
regular type of river-deposited alluvial lowlands, 
having a fairly uniform, slowly decreasing slope, with 
the rivers running on ridges, and swampy tracts in 
the lowest parts between. 

Paknampo lies thirty-two metres above the ebb- 
level of the Gulf of Siam, and at the mouth of the 
river the ground-level is about four metres above 
ebb-level. Thus the average slope of the land is 
about one to nine thousand, the distance from 
Paknampo to the gulf being about 250 kilometres. 

In the upper parts of the plain, between Paknam- 




'' W I li' /- f' 'i •'I I* 





< 

CO 



o 



A General Description of Siam 37 

po and Chainat, some low hills crop out of the 
alluvial upper stratum. But below this scarcely any 
spot of greater elevation than its surroundings inter- 
rupts the flatness of the plain and the regularity of 
the slope. 

The soil of Lower Siam is clayey, with more or 
less quartz sand. The substratum is a marine sand 
formation. 

The plain, where not cultivated, is chiefly covered 
with jungle grass, where herds of elephants live on 
brushwood and bamboo. Extensive forests do not 
exist. Except in the high tracts along the rivers, 
even clumps of trees are scarce in the greatest part 
of the plain, apparently in consequence of occasional 
floods and want of drainage. 

The coast of Lower Siam is flat, with a broad, 
muddy shore, and is covered with mangrove trees, 
and further inland with nipa groves. Lagoons and 
dunes do not exist. 

The ground at the coast is only slightly elevated 
above ordinary high-tide level, so that extraordinary 
high tides overflow a strip of the adjacent land. 

The difference between ebb- and flood-lev^el is 
three to four metres in the gulf and causes the sea- 
water to run far up the rivers in the dry season, 
when the discharge of water by the rivers is small. 



38 Kingdom of Siam 

There is a continual slow increase of land along 
the coast of Lower Siam. 

Lower Siam lies between the thirteenth and six- 
teenth degrees of north latitude, thus it 

Climate. . • i i i 

IS a tropical, though not quite an equa- 
torial, country. 

Because of this situation there is a quite distinct 
cool winter season in Lower Siam and a distinct hot 
season. 

The hot season, however, falls not in the summer, 
but in the springtime, in consequence of the influ- 
ence of the southwest monsoon. 

The southwest monsoon commences generally 
towards the end of April. Then the breeze grows 
stronger and the rains gradually commence; first 
come some occasional showers termed the mango 
showers, as they occur at the time when the mango- 
tree is in flower. In June the rains become fairly 
regular. The influence of the rains and of the breeze 
moderate considerably the heat of the summer. 

The southwest monsoon and the rains usually 
last till about the end of October, when the north- 
east monsoon begins, and dry weather follows. The 
height of the rainy season falls in September. Be- 
fore and after this only rare showers occur. 

The combined influence of the solar season and 



A General Description of Siam 39 

the monsoons governs the climate of Lower Siam in 
such a way that the Siamese divide the year in three 
seasons, namely: a hot one (March-June), a wet 
one (July-October), and a cool one (November- 
February). 

Climatical data are as yet scarce in Siam. 

With regard to records concerning temperature, 
this is especially the case. The few data available, 
however, agree fairly well. 

According to these data the highest temperature 
rises above icx)° F. in the hot season, and the lowest 
approaches 50° F. in the cool season, whilst the 
average temperature can be put at above 80° F. 

The records of temperature for 1902, as kept by 
the Chief Medical Officer of Health at Bangkok, are 
stated in the following table : 

Temperature in Shade 

Month Average Highest Lowest 

January 76°. 82 F 93° F 59° F. 

February 77° 94° 56° 

March 84°.8 102° 70° 

April 86° 100° 73° 

May 85°. 88 102° 73° 

June 86°. 56 100° 74° 

July 85° 98° 73° 

August 84°.! 98° 74° 

September 82°. 43 97° 70° 

October 83° 94° 73° 

November 82°. 4 93° 68° 

December 81°. 2 95° 69° 



40 Kingdom of Siam 

The records of the rainfall also are scanty in Siam 
and with many breaks. From the existing records 
are derived the following figures, concerning the 
average monthly rainfall in Bangkok during the ten 
years' period, 1882-1891 : 

Average Rainfall in Bangkok 



January 2.23 cm. 



For nine years only; 
consequently the an- 



February 3-76 cm 

March 1.40 cm 

April , 4.71 cm. V- nual average does not 

May 17.34 cm. I agree with the sum of 

June 14.02 cm. J the monthly averages. 

July 14.73 cm. 

August 17-93 cm. 

September 28.90 cm. 

October 20.83 cm. 

November 6.58 cm. 

December 0.38 cm. 



Annual 130. 20 cm. 

The maximum annual rainfall recorded in Bang- 
kok is 194.36 cm. in 1849; ^^^ minimum 85.75 cm. in 
1884. 

During the last four years, in a great number of 
places all over the country, regular rainfall observa- 
tions have been recorded. The average of all these 
records for the lower Menam plain is 120.01 cm. 
per year. 

It is a matter of interest that, according to the 




< 

72 



O 

o 



< 

O 



A General Description of Siam 41 

results of these records, the amount of rain is much 
smaller in Lower Siam than in the upper Menam 
basin and than in the hill region between the Menam 
and the Mekong basins. Comparison of the figures 
for the average rainfall in the northern provinces of 
Siam (149.24 cm.) and in the eastern hill range 
(Muaklek 149.78 cm. and Hinlap 169.23 cm.) with 
the figures for Lower Siam (120.01) show this fact 
clearly. 

In the Malay Peninsula (average 221.35 cm.) and 
in the southeastern provinces of the kingdom (aver- 
age 252.22 cm.) the rainfall also appears to be much 
greater than in Lower Siam. 

These facts are well known by long experience, 
and, indeed, they can be explained very rationally 
by the function of the high western hill ranges that 
retain the humidity of the southwest monsoon ; 
thus we find that the rainfall in Lower Burmah is 
more than one hundred inches, that is, about twice 
as great as in Lower Siam. The influence of these 
hill ranges decreases as the distance to the east in- 
creases, and also with increasing elevation of the 
adjacent regions, and so naturally this influence is 
greatest in Lower Siam. 

Similar circumstances explain the fact that the 
annual rainfall at Chantaboon, on the west side of 



42 Kingdom of Siam 

the hill ranges along the east coast of the Gulf of 
Siam, amounts to 300 cm., and in Pnom Penh, the 
capital of Cambodia, on the east side of these hills, 
measures only 133 cm. 

The air in Lower Siam seems to be rather dry ; 
regular records concerning this matter, however, 
have not as yet been made. 

Violent tempests or cyclones are unknown in 
Lower Siam. There is almost regularly a slight mo- 
tion of the air, which is strongest in the winter time 
and least in the hot spring season. The flatness of the 
country is favorable to this slight breeze, especially 
in the inland regions, where few big buildings or 
clumps of trees impede the motion of the air near 
the surface of the earth. 

This slight breeze is a great benefit to the country, 
as it tempers the influence of the heat. 

With regard to the direction and the force of the 

'wind the influence of the monsoons is prevalent, but 

the monsoon winds are very considerably modified 

by the sea, which tends to create a cool breeze from 

the sea by day and the reverse at night. 

A regular strong wind for a considerable time is 
very rare in Lower Siam, though sudden squalls 
often occur at the turn of the seasons and in the 
rainy season. 



A General Description of Siam 43 

The number of the inhabitants of Lower Siam 
may be roughly estimated at some two and a half 
to three millions. The main stock is 

People. 

Siamese or Thai, while interspersed are 
numerous villages of Shans and Laos and of the 
neighboring races, such as Malays, Peguans, Bur- 
mans, Cambodians, Annamese, Chinese, etc. This 
is clearly shown by the names of the villages, for 
we find Bangkok (Malay), Bang Raman, Mon, or 
Talaing (Peguan), Bang Kamin (Cambodian), Bang 
Yuen (Annamite), Bang Laos, Bang Gala Njiew, or 
Pamah (Shan). 

Some of these settlements, especially those of the 
Burmese, Malay, and Cambodians, were orginally 
founded by prisoners of war and date from the 
period when war was frequent among the countries 
of Indo-China ; others were founded by immigrants 
seeking easier conditions of life, as the Chinese. 
Many others, especially those of the Catholic Anna- 
mese, were founded by people seeking refuge from 
the religious persecution of their own country. The 
rulers of Siam have always shown the greatest toler- 
ance in religious matters. 

The people of these settlements have intermarried 
with the Siamese and all speak the Siamese lan- 
guage. The men frequently retain parts of their 



44 Kingdom of Siam 

original habits and dress, but the women almost 
without exception adopt the Siamese dress. 

The Siamese are of smaller stature than the 
Chinese and Indians, but taller than the Japanese and 
Malays. They have straight, black hair, which is 
worn cut short by both sexes ; beards are little de- 
veloped, and complexion a light brown, like the 
races of southern Europe. 

There is an immense variety of types caused by 
frequent intermixture with other races; a typical 
race can therefore hardly be distinguished. In 
agricultural pursuits they display a marked per- 
severance and energy, and on an average the land 
worked by a cultivator is greatly in excess of that 
worked by the cultivators of neighboring races. 

When the Siamese came down from the northern 
hills and invaded the plains they were still in a state 
of primitive civilization, but readily adopted the 
civilization of the ancient Khmers, their nearest 
neighbors. 

Siamese civilization bears very distinctly the char- 
acter of its origin, but nevertheless many traits of the 
ancient invading mountaineers, who called them- 
selves Thai, i. e., free, are preserved in the character 
of the people. The abject humility and abject 
terror before chiefs and great people, so common 



A General Description of Siani 45 

among Asiatic peoples, is entirely absent among the 
Siamese. The people are polite, courteous to 
strangers, and have a high sense of self-respect. 

Slavery in the antique sense has never existed in 
Siam, though bond serfdom, ending with the resti- 
tution of the debt, was formerly common, and, 
although abolished as a legal institution, still exists 
in outlying provinces, though only as a bona fide 
agreement between master and man. 

The position of women is high in Siam. They 
enjoy, both in business matters and social life, a 
great independence. 

Though polygamy is permitted it docs not exist 
among the great mass of the people and in no way 
affects the position of women. 

Marriage is a civil contract and the wife retains 
her dowry ; divorce is infrequent. 

From a literary point of view the women are 
badly educated, but this is more than balanced by 
their native shrewdness. 

Nearly every male can read and write. This is 
largely due to the fact that in the interior primary 
instruction is in the hands of the priests, and girls are 
not admitted to the schools of the monasteries. 

The customs and habits of the Siamese are largely 
influenced by their religion ; they are charitable both 



46 Kingdom of Siam 

to the priests and the poor. Their religion also 
forbids the taking of life, and hence hunting is little 
practised. Catching and eating of fish is permitted, 
though looked down on as a calling. 

The national dress is the panung for both sexes. 
The panung is a piece of silk or cotton cloth about 
three yards long and one broad, which is wound 
round the hips, the slack then rolled up and passed 
between the legs and hitched up behind ; it gives the 
appearance of a pair of loose knickerbockers. The 
men wear a white coat of European cut and the wo- 
men a jacket or blouse. 

The population of Lower Siam is an agricultural 
one. 

In Lower Siam, besides the capital, Bangkok, 
there exists comparatively few small towns ; the bulk 
of the population live in villages or soli- 
tary homesteads situated chiefly along 
the banks of the rivers or numerous canals. These 
scattered homesteads are a distinguishing feature of 
the country. 

In Lower Siam communal lands are not found, the 
Land farms being either the property of the 

Tenure. farmer or rented by him from the big 
landowners. 

A peculiar feature of the population is their fre- 




OS 

<; 



A General Description of Siam 47 

quent removal to the river banks during the dry- 
season, which lasts for five or six months, due to 
the scarcity of drinking water, as, owing to the 
alluvial nature of the soil, wells do not exist. 

The typical home of the farmer is a house built 
on piles five or six feet above the ground, and 
thatched. The house contains several rooms, with 
well-made windows and doors and a broad verandah. 
Under the house are kept the ploughs, harrows, 
carts, etc. 

There is an enormous variety of boats used, 
which are manufactured by the people themselves, 
and are used for transporting the crops. 

In Lower Siam the chief agricultural pursuit is 
that of rice-growing; this, of course, is not an acci- 
dental circumstance, but due to the climatic and 
hydrographic conditions of the country. In the dry 
season the ground is too dry for cultivation without 
artificial irrigation, and in the wet season too wet to 
produce other than rice. 

The Government is now embarking on an exten- 
sive irrigation scheme which will embrace the greater 
portion of the Menam valley, and when in operation 
not only will the rice crop be extended and im- 
proved, but dry-season crops will then be possible. 

Notwithstanding the various difficulties with 



48 Kingdom of Siam 

regard to water-supply which the people have to 
contend with, owing to irregularity of rainfall, the 
Siamese farmer, with the help of his family, culti- 
vates a rather extensive holding ; an average holding 
is seven hectares, and fifteen and twenty hectares is 
not unknown; to this extensive cultivation is due 
the large export of rice. 

EASTERN PROVINCES 

The eastern provinces of Siam embrace the west- 
ern part of the Mekong basin, generally known as 
the Korat plateau, and the western part of the plain 
of the Talesap or the great lake of Indo-China, with 
the adjacent hill and coast regions. 

To the west and to the south the Korat plateau 
reaches to the wooded hill ranges which separate it 
from Lower Siam and from the Talesap plain, and 
to the east and north it is bounded by the Mekong 
River. As the right bank of the Mekong is flanked 
by nearly uninterrupted hill ranges, the Korat 
plateau in fact can be described as a basin nearly 
surrounded partly by fairly high, partly by rather 
low, hilly regions. The central basin is a flat, 
sandy, alluvial plain (sandstone, slate, and laterite 
are the predominating formations of the surround- 
ing hills), that on an average lies about two hundred 



A General Description of Siam 49 

metres above sea-level and shows no important 
risings, though in some parts low laterite ridges crop 
out as watersheds. 

These circumstances predominate the physical 
and hydrographical character of the country. 

Nearly the whole basin drains into the Nam Moon 
and its principal tributary, the Nam See, which, be- 
fore joining the Mekong, pierce the hill ranges that 
flank that river by a series of rapids about thirty 
kilometres long. Only a small part of the territory 
drains into the Mekong by separate small streams, 
of which the Nam Loey, the Nam Luang, and the 
Nam Songkran in the north are the most important. 

The Nam Moon is navigable for big boats, during 
about seven months a year, from some few kilo- 
metres below Korat to the commencement of the 
rapids, which only can be passed during a couple of 
months in the height of the rainy season. 

The rdgime of the rivers is irregular. In the rainy 
season they are not capable of draining the country 
properly, in consequence of the rapids in the hill 
regions, so that the greatest part of the flat country 
is turned into interminable swamps, and in the dry 
season they contain no water or hardly any, as their 
catchment areas are confined to the rainless plateau 
and neighboring hills. In the dry season the 



so Kingdom of Siam 

swamps are changed into a barren, treeless plain, 
the sandy soil of which is strongly agitated by the 
prevailing southern winds and fills the air with dust. 
In the somewhat more elevated, less swampy parts 
low bamboo shrub occurs, so far as the extensive 
salt wastes, which cover a great deal of the higher 
tracts and border on the swamps in many parts, do 
not render all vegetation impossible. The more 
elevated laterite and stony ridges are mostly covered 
'with, for ets clair teres , i. e.y shadeless forests of sparse, 
poor, dwarfish trees; this kind of forest is largely 
dispersed in the lower parts of the Mekong River. 
On the somewhat elevated ridges of deposits along 
the streams belts of proper forests are usually grow- 
ing, and on these ridges the settlements and the 
rice-fields of the sparse inhabitants are found. 

The plain of Talesap is an alluvial lowland, ele- 
vated about from ten to twenty metres above the 
sea-level. Ranges of wooded hills separate it from 
the Korat plateau, the plain of the Bangpakong 
River, and the coast of the Gulf of Siam. The 
plain and adjacent hill regions drain into the great 
lake by the Kanburee River and its tributaries, 
among which Sangke River is the most important, 
and by some smaller streams. The lake is in con- 
nection with the Mekong and serves that river as a 




W 

o 

o 

h-) 

Ph 



A General Description of Siam 51 

regulating basin, so that the water-level of the lake 
rises and falls with the floods of the river in such a 
way that in the connecting channel it alternately 
runs from the lake to the river and in the reverse 
direction. This causes the lake to silt up rapidly. 

In consequence, there is a difference of about nine 
metres between high and low water-level, and at the 
high level the lake extends its water over the plain 
so that the greatest part of it is deeply flooded. The 
lake is bordered by a belt of aquatic shrub growing 
in the soft mud. The solid plain more inland, owing 
to the fertility of the soil of sandy clay, when the 
flood recedes is soon turned into an endless jungle of 
high grass where countless deer feed. In the higher 
region of older formation the forets clairieres appear 
and, on the hills, forests proper. In the height of the 
dry season the lake becomes a shallow swamp ; the 
rivers grow quite dry or leave only some dirty pools 
in the lowest part of their bed, and the whole coun- 
try assumes an extremely barren character. 

Cultivation is almost confined to and is only fea- 
sible in those regions along the rivers where flooding 
does not reach more than a convenient depth. 

The coast generally is steep and rocky, but inter- 
rupted by small alluvial plains at the mouth of the 
rivers. 



52 Kingdom of Siam 

From the climatic point of view the eastern pro- 
vinces approach very near Lower Siam. As in 
Lower Siam, the southwest monsoon rains are 
considerably detained by the hill ranges which sur- 
round the Korat plateau and the Talesap plain to 
the west and south. Moreover, these hill ranges 
detain also the diurnal sea and land breeze. In 
consequence the climate assumes a more continental 
character than in Lower Siam ; the difference to 
Lower Siam appears to be that rainfall is somewhat 
smaller and in the hot season the heat somewhat 
greater, whilst in the northern parts the cool season 
is decidedly much cooler. 

The regions to the south and west of the hill 
ranges along the coast of the gulf are in a particular 
position. Here the annual rainfall is about three 
metres, i. e., twice as much as in Lower Siam. In 
other points of view the climate in this region is 
about the same as in Lower Siam, but the influence 
of the sea is stronger. 

The population of the eastern provinces is esti- 
mated at a little more than a million. About half 
of them are Laos, who live in the Korat plateau ; 
about a quarter Siamese (chiefly in the coast region 
and in the Korat plateau), and the rest are Chinese, 
Cambodians (chiefly in the Talesap plain), etc. 



A General Description of Siam 53 

The Laos are of the same race as the Siamese, and 
their language shows only very slight dialectic differ- 
ences to the Siamese language. They, moreover, 
have the same religion, generally wear the same 
dress, and have almost the same habits, customs, 
festivals, houses, manner of life, and occupations as 
the Siamese. 

The chief difference between the Laos and the 
Siamese is, that the latter have been more under 
the influence of progress on European lines and 
economically are in much more favorable conditions. 

This refers, of course, not only to the Laos, but 
as well to the rest of the population of the eastern 
provinces, among whom the Cambodian, though of 
another race (they are descendants of the ancient 
Khmers and of autochthonous races and speak a lan- 
guage of their own), have the same religion and 
almost the same dress, customs, habits, houses, 
and manner of life (which chiefly appear to have 
been derived from the ancient Khmers). 

The Korat plateau and the Talesap plain are 
poor regions. In the rainy season the country is 
largely a swamp ; a great part of the higher lands 
have a barren, laterite, sandy, or stony soil (in the 
Korat plateau) or contain too much salt to be cultiv- 
able, so that in general only the belts of deposits 



54 Kingdom of Siam 

along the rivers are fit for cultivation. Moreover, 
these regions only are fit for settlement, because in 
the dry season the country is nearly waterless, as 
only a few of the rivers contain a glimpse of dirty 
water that gathers in pools in the deepest places, 
whilst the ground-water, if obtainable, is generally 
too salt to be drinkable. 

Removing to the higher regions when the floods 
commence, and to the riverside in the dry season, is, 
therefore, often necessary, this compels people to 
content themselves with most primitive and uncom- 
fortable shelters. 

Communication, moreover, is still worse than 
production. Roads are almost impassable in con- 
sequence of the flooding, and the rivers mostly are 
navigable only during a few months. 

It is certainly no surprising fact that under such 
unfavorable circumstances the inhabitants are poor 
and backward compared with the Siamese of Lower 
Siam, and that the sanitary conditions of the people 
are worse than anywhere else in Siam. Enteric dis- 
eases (dysentery and cholera), fever, and small -pox 
are very common in these regions. 

The people live in small settlements spread over 
the country. There are only a few towns in the 
eastern provinces, and these are very small. 



A General Description of Siam 55 

The principal means of subsistence is rice growing. 
The methods are primitive; the crop is uncertain, 
small, and of inferior quality. In the higher regions 
the rice is planted in the rainy season ; in the deep 
inundated tracts people cannot commence to plant 
before the water subsides. In the last case the crop 
is particularly uncertain. 

The Korat plateau has nearly no rice to spare for 
export ; from the Talesap plain one to two hundred 
thousand piculs annually are exported. 

Cattle and swine breeding and salt making out of 
the salt surface earth in the salt wastes are the most 
important industries, and silk weaving, timber, to- 
bacco, fishing in the great lake, and collecting jungle 
produce are subsidiary employments. 

There is also some mining of copper, iron, gold, 
and rubies in the Korat plateau, but this is not of 
real importance. 

As these eastern provinces have little to export, 
the import trade and the interior trade are of course 
also small. The coast regions are in a much more 
favorable condition with regard to climate as well 
as with regard to soil and situation. In consequence 
the people here are in fairly favorable conditions. 
Rice growing is here also the principal industry, 
and fishing in the gulf, pepper cultivation, sugar 



56 Kingdom of Siam 

manufacturing, the timber and fire-wood trades, 
and collecting jungle produce are minor industries. 
Also ruby mining may be mentioned as a trade of 
some importance in the regions along the east coast 
of the Gulf of Siam. 

THE SIAMESE PROVINCES OF THE MALAY PENINSULA 

In this article this southern division will include 
all that part of Siam and its dependencies situated 
in what is geographically termed the Malay Pen- 
insula. 

Politically the peninsula is divided between Great 
Position— Britain and Siam ; the dividing line run- 
^*^"*" ning along the southern boundaries of 

Kedah, Raman, Kelantan, and Tringanu. 

The territory which we are now dealing with thus 
includes the following provinces, starting from the 
north and coming south : Petchaburi, Bangtaphan, 
Chumpon, Langsuan, Chaiya, Bandon, Lakon, 
Patalung, Singora, Patani, Nongchik, Jering, Saiburi, 
Jalar, Raman, Rangeh, Kelantan, and Tringanu, on 
the eastern slope, and Kra, Renong, Takuapa, 
Panga, Takuatung, Gerbi, Puket,Trang, Stul, Pedis, 
and Kedah, on the west. 

The country is on the whole mountainous ; but 



A General Description of Siam 57 

far less so than is ordinarily supposed. The whole 
general Malay Peninsula has been formed by a 
granite upheaval, which is clearly traced p^^ ^j^^j 
from the dividing range between the val- Features, 
leys of the Salween (Burmah) and the Menam (Siam 
proper) right down to Singapore and the islands to 
the south of it. This granite upheaval is not so 
prominently represented in the Siamese division as 
it is in the southern ; but there are several peaks of 
from three thousand to five thousand feet high. 
The older geological strata are limestone and slate. 
These have been everywhere greatly disturbed and 
altered by the granite ; and the limestone which was 
originally overlaid by the slate is frequently met 
with at far higher levels, the granite in its upward 
passage having caused the limestone to fold over the 
slate. The limestone wherever found is highly crys- 
talline and very durable, offering a far greater re- 
sistance to denudation than the granite or the slate. 
Though the main range, as already stated, runs 
down the axis of the peninsula, yet the various sys- 
tems of hills which make up the main range gener- 
ally run in a southwest-northeast direction. One 
very striking result of this feature in the mountain 
system is that practically all the rivers issuing on 
the east coast run in a northeasterly line, while 



58 Kingdom of Siam 

those on the west coast have a southwesterly 
course. 

Few of the rivers are of much importance, as the 
areas drained by most of them are limited, owing 
to the narrowness of the peninsula. The 
Bandon (Menam Luang), Patani, and 
Kelantan rivers are the largest on the east coast ; 
while the Takuapa, Trang, Merboh, and Muda are 
the largest on the west. All these rivers have bars 
at their mouths and are consequently entered with 
difficulty by ships of anything but light draft ; there 
is, however, in most cases deep water in the rivers 
themselves. 

The rivers at Renong, Takuapa, and Panga, on 
the west coast, are very badly silted up by tailings 
from the tin mines worked in the hills. 

From the north down to the southern limits of 

Singora and Trang, the indigenous population is 

Siamese; south of that it is Malay. 

Inhabitants. -r/t i i 

1 here are, of course, many Malays north 
of this line, and Siamese south of it, and also a cer- 
tain amount of a mixed breed ; but this is the main 
ethnological division. Besides these two settled 
races, there are the Negritos, who are found very 
sparsely inhabiting the jungle-covered mountains of 
Lakon and all the country south of it. These Ne- 



A General Description of Siam 59 

gritos probably represent the aboriginal population. 
They are in an extremely low state of culture, hold- 
ing aloof from the settled populations, living on wild 
fruits and roots, and wild game which they pursue 
with poisoned arrows shot from a blowpipe. These 
wild tribes are stated to be of Melanesian stock, and 
are probably related to the so-called "Mincopies" 
of the Andaman Islands, and the Aetas of the Philip- 
pine Archipelago. The Siamese and Malays are gen- 
erally similar to the representatives of the same races 
elsewhere, so that there is no need to describe them 
here. Besides the three indigenous races above 
mentioned, there is a very large immigrant Chinese 
population. 

The Chinese come chiefly from Amoy, and many 
of them settle permanently in the country. In 
Singora especially a great part of the Chinese popu- 
lation has practically become indigenous. 

It is very difficult to make any reliable estimate 
of the numbers of the different races inhabiting the 
region being treated of; but the following figures are 
given for what they are worth : 

Malays 900,000 

Siamese 800,000 

Chinese 200,000 

Negritos 10,000 

Total 1,910,000 



6o Kingdom of Siam 

The climate of these regions may be generally de- 
scribed as moist and hot, though seldom malarious. 
In the northern part, the climate more 
nearly approaches that of the Menam 
Valley, where there are very distinct wet and dry 
seasons; but in going south the conditions are 
more like those prevailing in Singapore, where the 
distinction between the seasons is slight, and rain 
falls more or less the whole year round. It is im- 
possible to give a description of the climate, em- 
bracing the whole region, because the conditions 
vary immensely in neighboring places. The pres- 
ence or absence of mountains on the inland side 
of different districts influences the rainfall to an 
incredible extent. Generally speaking, the east 
coast gets most rain during the northeast monsoon, 
the months of November, December, and January 
being particularly wet ; this, however, does not 
apply from Langsuan northward, where the rains 
are heaviest in August, September, and October. 

On the west coast the rains come on during the 
southwest monsoon; June, July, and August being 
the wettest months in most places. The rainfall, as 
stated above, is very variable; and practically no 
records are available; but the mean fall for the 
whole region is probably about ninety inches, vary- 



A General Description of Siam 6i 

ing from about sixty inches in the more northerly 
parts, to about one hundred and twenty inches in 
the southern. 

The soil of the plains is not very rich in most 
parts ; there is, however, some very fine rice land in 
Lakon, Patalung, Kedah, and Kelantan. 

T^ • 1111 11 Flora. 

Even m sandy land, however, excellent 
crops are raised, the regular rainfall and absence of 
any prolonged dry season being of the greatest as- 
sistance to agriculture. But the granite hills are 
usually covered with a thick covering of rich clay ; 
and for all kinds of hill crops the country is admir- 
ably adapted. The mountains are covered with the 
densest and most magnificent tropical vegetation, 
in which the most characteristic and useful growths 
are several varieties of the guttapercha (in the south 
only), the camphor tree, ebony, eaglewood, sapan, 
rattan, nibung, bamboo, nipa-palm, cocoanut, areca, 
and gomuti. 

The fauna is unusually rich, both the Asiatic 
mainland and the islands of the Eastern Archi- 
pelago being represented by numerous 
varieties. The elephant, tiger, one-horned 
rhinoceros, tapir, hog, and many varieties of bear 
and bison are met with. Quadrumana are repre- 
sented by nine or more specimens. Amongst birds 



62 



Kingdom of Siam 



there are several varieties from Java and other East 
Indian islands; in fact, the Malay Peninsula is 
largely the meeting ground for the denizens of the 
Asiatic and the Polynesian worlds. 




CHAPTER IV 
NAVAL AND MILITARY FORCES 



63 



CHAPTER IV 

NAVAL AND MILITARY FORCES 
THE SIAMESE ARMY 

AMONG the departments of Siamese administra- 
tion that have shared to the full in the progress 
which forms so marked a feature of the present reign, 
the army occupies a foremost place; for not only 
have radical reforms been introduced into 

Its Reform 

the organization of this most necessary and im- 

1 1 f 1 . -1 . • provement. 

branch oi the service, with a view to in- 
crease its efficiency, but every effort has been made 
to reconcile as far as practicable the inevitable call 
it makes upon the time of the younger and more 
vigorous elements of the nation with the exigencies 
of the other branches of the government service, as 
well as with the conditions indispensable to the 
healthy development of the country's natural re- 
sources and industrial capabilities. 

With the system until recently in force, military 

65 



66 Kingdom of Siam 

service, while weighing heavily upon a few particular 
The Old classes of the population which had to 
^^*^™' exercise it hereditarily as a profession, 

did not become an imperious duty for all able- 
bodied citizens except in the very moment of com- 
mon danger. Moreover, the service performed by 
these classes, consisting for the most part of govern- 
ment serfs and alien auxiliaries, had necessarily to 
be taken by turns of some months in and some 
months out, with serious detriment to the homo- 
geneity and compactness of the army, and con- 
tinuous hindrance to the steady improvement of its 
efficiency. There was practically no limit to the 
duration of such service, except physical incapa- 
bility from youth on the one side and downright 
decrepitude on the other, so that it became a life- 
long burden to those who were restricted to it. 

The many drawbacks resulting from such an 
antiquated system could not avoid being fully 
The recognized, and the reforms gradually 

Transition, j^troduced iuto othcr branches of the 
administration, above all in statutory legislation, 
rendered possible the transition to a new order of 
things more in keeping with modern ideas and out- 
come of civilization. Thus the new system was in- 
augurated, in which the fundamental principle, that 



Naval and Military Forces 67 

able-bodied citizens are expected to serve a term 
with the colors, has been laid down as a patriotic 
duty to all, tempered, as a matter of course, by 
such limitations and exemptions as the welfare and 
most pressing needs of the country and its people 
have rendered advisable. The example has most 
happily in this connection come from the higher 
classes, led by the members of the Royal Family, 
many of whom have now adopted the army as their 
profession. 

The system recently adopted is similar to that of 
a militia or cantonal one. It has been practised in 
several monthons, and the result has so The New 
far been very successful. According to ystem. 

this system, every man is required to serve two years 
in the regular army, and afterwards is transferred 
into the first and second reserves, respectively. 

In case the number in the new ranks exceeds that 
required for the standing army, the recruits are 
passed into the reserves. While in the first reserve 
a man is liable to be called for training during a 
period not exceeding two months a year, and while 
in the second reserve his training is limited to fifteen 
days. 

While on active service all men belonging to the 
above categories are exempt from both capitation 



68 Kingdom of Siam 

and land taxes, and after having completed their 
terms of military service become freed 

Facilities and 

Exemptions from payment of similar taxes for the 

Accorded. • i- 

rest of their lives. 

Total exemption from military duty is accorded 
to Chinese settled in the country, to wild tribes, to 
physically disabled persons, and to recipients of a 
royal authorization to that effect. 

Temporary exemptions are provided for in favor 
of members of the priesthood, students in the higher 
standards during their course of study up to thirty 
years of age, officials in the civil service while on 
active duty, village headmen so long as they exer- 
cise such functions, sons of disabled parents who 
provide for their sustenance, elder brothers who 
support orphans ; younger brothers as yet incapable 
of earning a living, so long as necessary ; agricultur- 
ists and tradesmen who do a large business entailing 
on their part the payment of a certain large sum 
yearly in taxes to Government, so long as such pay- 
ment lasts; invalids; persons involved in legal suits 
to which they personally attend, as long as such 
suits last, etc. 

These provisions are destined to meet the peculiar 
conditions of the country and people. 

For the purpose of military organization, the 




p5 



Naval and Military Forces 69 

country has been apportioned into circles, or mon- 
thons, which are not necessarily identical 

Military 

in extent and limits with the monthons Territorial 

Organization. 

created for the purpose of civil adminis- 
tration. 

Within the area of these monthons the men are 
recruited, drilled, and kept under normal conditions 
to serve their terms with the colors. 

By having recourse to this regional system of en- 
listment, the least possible inconvenience is caused 
to the men themselves, who thus enjoy the advantage 
of performing their military duties near their own 
homes, and can easily return to the labor of their 
fields or other customary occupations during the 
periods in which their presence under arms is not 
required. 

The same facilities are enjoyed by the non-com- 
missioned officers who are picked from the ranks and 
trained at a special school established for them in 
each monthon, whence after training and qualifica- 
tion by an examination they are detailed for service 
to the corps stationed within their native monthon. 

Since last year (a.d. 1902) the infantry 

Armament 

has been armed with the new repeating and 

equipment, 

rifle (model R. S. 121), while the cavalry 
and artillery retained the Mannlicher carbine. 



yo Kingdom of Siam 

The field artillery ordnance consists, for troops in 
the interior, of steel-bronze /-cm. mountain guns 
only, the conditions of the country not permitting, 
for the present, the use of a heavier ordnance. For 
the same reason the employment of larger bodies of 
cavalry becomes impossible over the greater part 
of the country, hence the task of the cavalry 
must remain confined to reconnaissance and scout 
duty. In this no better animal could meet the re- 
quirement than the local wiry and hardy little pony. 
Accordingly the cavalry is mounted exclusively on 
native ponies and armed with sabre and carbine, so 
as to readily do also work on foot, and the use of 
the lance has been proscribed. For the artillery, 
elephants, pack-bullocks, and boats are severally 
used, according to the character of the country to 
be traversed. The clothing and accoutrements of 
the troops follow, on the whole, Western models, 
being modified in detail so as to suit local condi- 
tions. Barrack accommodation on improved lines 
is provided both at Bangkok and in the various 
outer monthons. 

Great attention has been paid during the last ten 
Miiitar years or so to this most essential branch 

Education. Qf army organization. About nine tenths 
of the commissioned officers are now supplied 





^P^Siir 



w 
o 

w 

o 
U 

>< 

< 

I— I 
►-1 



< 
O 

H 






Naval and Military Forces 71 

by the Royal Military College, and only about one 
tenth by the rank and file. The Royal Military 
College, installed in a spacious and imposing group 
of buildings, was founded as early as 1885, but it 
has since been several times enlarged and generally 
improved. It now accommodates over three hun- 
dred cadets, who go through a three-years course 
of training, at the end of which those who qualify 
at a final examination are promoted and appointed 
to the various corps. A preliminary course of three 
years is also provided for those applicants who join 
the college before possessing the necessary qualifica- 
tion for the technical course. 

The Royal Military College at Bangkok has been 
an important factor in the improvement of the 
standard of officers in the army. Over three fourths 
of the officers now on active service have been 
trained there, and so satisfactory have been the re- 
sults attained that there is a great and continuous 
demand for these officers for the v/ork of civil ad- 
ministration. Many of the officers who are now at 
the head of the various departments and corps of 
the army have received their complementary educa- 
tion and military training in Europe, in the armies 
of either England, Germany, Austria, or Denmark. 
To these will soon be added a small yearly supply 



72 Kingdom of Siam 

from those cadets who have won scholarships and 
are now receiving their miHtary training abroad, so 
that the standard of officers in the army will keep 
continuously improving. Of the special schools for 
non-commissioned officers mention has already been 
made. There are now three such establishments in 
full order in the military monthons of Bangkok, 
Korat, and Rajburi, aggregating a total of some 
three hundred pupils. Other similar institutions are 
being created in each of the newly formed monthons. 
His Majesty the King is the supreme head 
of all forces. The army is immediately controlled 
Headquarters by 3. General Commander-in-Chief, with 
an Assistant General. The Headquarters 
Staff is organized into three administrative branches, 
under the supervision of the Chief of the General 
Staff, the Adjutant-General, and the Quartermaster- 
General, respectively. Besides the above-named 
principal officers, there is an Inspector-General, 
whose function is to inspect all His Majesty's forces. 
The Army Headquarters are located in a spacious 
building near the centre of Bangkok City. On the 
same premises is also installed the Ministry of War 
and Marine, on which the army depends mainly for 
administrative purposes, as well as for the supply 
of both men and war material. 



Naval and Military Forces "Ji 

The army as it stands will be quite sufficient for 
ordinary purposes, which are chiefly the maintenance 
of order and security in the outlying dis- strength of 
tricts, and ability to cope with any even- *^^ Army, 
tual rising of unruly alien elements whether in the 
capital or in the interior of the country. 

THE ROYAL NAVY 

The Naval Yard and Arsenal are situated in 
Bangkok, on the west side of the river opposite the 
royal palace. 

The dockyard contains the Admiralty and Ad- 
ministrative offices, also barracks for the men, 
drilling grounds, and artillery park ; a drydock able 
to dock the largest ships of the navy, also patent 
slips, workshops, iron and brass foundries, carpen- 
ters* and sailmakers' shops, etc. ; two shear-legs of 
different lifting capacities, and all necessary appli- 
ances for the fitting out and repair of the ships of 
the navy. 

The naval education is carried on in three schools : 
the Naval Cadet school, the Marine Officers' school, 
and the Petty Officers' school. 

The engineers receive part of their education in 
the Naval Cadet school. 

The Commander-in-Chief of the Navy is, at pres- 



74 



Kingdom of Siam 



ent, the Minister for War, Admiral Prince Bhanur- 
angsi. 

Chief of the Staff, Captain Prince Abhakara. 

Principal Ships of the Navy 



Name of Ship 



Maha Chakrkri. . . 
Makut Rajakurnar 

Ran Rook 

Bali 

Su^ib 

Muratka 

Yong Yot 

Han Hak Sakru . . . 
Teywah Suraram. 

Nirben 

Prap Parapaks . . . . 
Uthai Rajakit 

Thon Kratnoom. . . . 



3,000 
700 
700 
580 
580 
530 
450 
250 

115 
290 
200 
134 



Cruiser 

Gunboat 



Despatch 

ii 

Training 
Vessel 
(sail) 



2,800 
560 

535 
500 
500 
500 

255 
140 
I go 
180 
171 
100 



WA 



9 
7 
9 
9 



16 



10 
9 

5 
3 



s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 
s. 
w. 

Comp, 

W. 

W. 
Comp, 

W. 

w. 



Besides these ships the navy possesses two trans- 
ports, two yachts, various despatch and river ves- 
sels, steam launches, fire engines, and one spar 
torpedo-boat, in all seventy-one vessels. 



GENDARMERIE 



Outside the capital and the surrounding province 
the country is policed by the gendarmerie. This is 
a body of military police at the head of which is a 



Naval and Military Forces 75 

military officer, as Inspector-General, acting directly 
under the orders of the Ministry of Interior. Most 
of the force are mounted, and all are drilled on mili- 
tary lines, special attention being paid to skirmishing 
and shooting. There are numerous stations scat- 
tered over the country, which serve as centres for 
the prevention and suppression of crime. 

From each station patrols are sent out, chiefly 
during the night, who report themselves to the civil 
officials of each district, to whom they hand over any 
lawbreakers they have arrested, and receive informa- 
tion of any crime committed in the district. 

The force possesses a training school for its officers, 
but the men are trained at the stations. 

The force is recruited in some provinces by volun- 
tary enlistment and in some by conscription. 

The present strength of the force is : non-com- 
missioned officers and men, 6000; officers, 150; 
chief stations, 250. 

The cost of the whole force, including school for 
officers, is over 2,500,000 ticals. 

THE PUKET FORCE 

Puket, the centre of the tin-mining industry, has 
a separate police force, which is solely responsible to 
the Minister of the Interior and the High Commis- 



76 Kingdom of Siam 

sioner of the monthon. The sanctioned strength, 
consisting of twelve officers and 531 men is com- 
posed of Siamese and Malays, and distributed as 
required amongst the six provinces which comprise 
the Puket monthon. 

The force is both a military and civil one, and was 
reorganized at the beginning of 1900. One of the 
chief features in the reorganization was the training 
of young Siamese police officers ; selected men were 
sent to Rangoon for a six-months course of police 
training and drill with the Rangoon police; they 
took every advantage of the opportunity afforded 
them and obtained certificates of efficiency. 

The whole force is armed, and great interest is 
taken in musketry. There is a rifle range, where 
target practice is held periodically and rewards given 
for good shooting. 

The force has a mounted detachment at head- 
quarters; they are chiefly used for patrolling, and 
escorting high officials when on tour of inspection. 

Crime is very slight throughout the monthon. 




CHAPTER V 
SIAM FROM AN HISTORICAL STANDPOINT 



77 



CHAPTER V 

SIAM FROM AN HISTORICAL STANDPOINT, 
BY DR. O. FRANKFURTER, SIAMESE FOREIGN OFFICE 

LITTLE is known about the early history of the 
country which was first called Siam by the 
Portuguese and, following them, by the other nations 
who first came into contact with it. The name has 
become more general during the last few reigns, 
perhaps through a mistaken etymology by derivation 
from cyama, blue-black. This derivation is inade- 
quate with regard to the complexion of the people 
and to the soil, to which it is equally inapplicable. 

Siemlo, the Chinese name, is of equally doubtful 
etymology, and by the neighboring countries, such 
as Burmah and Cambodia, the country was called, 
after the name of its former capital, Sri Ayuddhya. 

The Siamese call themselves Thai, probably the 
equivalent of Franks, the free ones, i. e., free from 
the foreign (Cambodian) yoke. 

We find also in some chronicles the well-known 

79 



8o Kingdom of Siam 

Indian term, Suvarnabliumi (golden country), so 
that it shares with other countries the honor of be- 
ing called the Golden Chersonese or Chryse. 

The chief source of the earliest history is found 
in the Phongsawadan Mtiang Niia (the Annals of the 
North). The facts related therein are to a great 
extent correct, but as these annals have been com- 
piled from various fragments without much dis- 
crimination, and as, moreover, the data given in these 
annals cannot be reconciled, they can only be used 
as throwing a general light on the history of Siam. 

Besides these Annals of the North, there are local 
annals, some written in Pali, some in Siamese or 
Laosian, which also throw a certain light on pre- 
Buddhistic times. 

None of these chronicles, with the exception of 
the Annals of tJie North, have as yet been printed. 
The great difficulty met with is the use of the eras. 
As is well known, there were three eras in common 
use — the Buddhist era dating from 543 B.C., the 
Maha Sakarat era dating from 78 A.D., and the 
Chula Sakarat dating from 638 A.D., while at 
the present time the Gregorian Calendar has been 
adopted, the era in use dating from the foundation 
of the present capital in A.D. 1781. 

In these old chronicles the eras were frequently 




The Menam River 



From an Historical Standpoint 8i 

changed for what may be called local eras, and un- 
fortunately the Buddhist era, the only real fixed 
one, has never been adopted throughout in any of 
the countries. 

In the earliest times, before the capital was estab- 
lished at Ayuthia in 1350, there extended throughout 
the country a number of small principalities. These 
extended over what is now called Siam, from the 
borders of China east and west through the valleys 
of the Menam Chow Phya and the Menamkong and 
down the Malay Peninsula, with Ligor as capital, as 
far south as Malacca. 

These principalities were bound together by race, 
language, religion, and customs, but did not form a 
political entity or state, though standing in com- 
mercial relations with one another. Frequently the 
dominions of a prince were extended by marriage 
and frequently they were subdivided by the laws 
governing succession. 

The early history of the race shows a continual 
migration from the north to the south, seeking an 
outlet to the sea, successive sections pressing in 
those that had gone before until in 1350 the branch 
of the Tai race known now as the Siamese estab- 
lished their capital at Ayuthia. 

The history of the Siamese as a dominant power 

6 



82 Kingdom of Siam 

begins from this date, for at that time twenty of the 
minor principalities to the north, east, and west, and 
four to the south, owed allegiance to Ayuthia, send- 
ing as a token the customary gold and silver flowers, 
and the oath of allegiance was taken by Pitsanu- 
loke, Sajjanalai, Sukothai, Nakon Sri Thammarat 
(Ligor), Rachasima (Korat), Tenaserim, and Tavoy. 

From the founding of the capital at Ayuthia in 
1350 down to its destruction in 1767 by the Burmese, 
its history is chiefly to be found in Phongsawadan 
Krung Kao, or \\\^ Annals of Aytcthia, in which is 
related the reigns of thirty-six kings, commencing 
with the reign of Phra Chao Utong, and ending with 
the reign of Krom Khun Anurat Montri, during 
whose reign Ayuthia was destroyed by the Burmese. 

The history is written without preconceived 
ideas, and although it is a compilation only made 
in the middle of the last century by Somdet Pra 
Paramamijit, it gives a very fair account, and many 
of its facts are corroborated by the chronicles of 
neighboring countries and the description given by 
foreign travellers. 

There is, however, not always a right proportion 
in details, and while some reigns are detailed at in- 
ordinate length others are dismissed in a few words. 
It. goes without saying that the inner connection of 



From an Historical Standpoint 83 

the facts related is not always made clear inasmuch 
as the source from which the compilation was made 
proved inadequate. 

The history of the Siamese during these years 
shows their efforts to consolidate their political 
power, by which they roused the jealousy of the 
neighboring countries who were striving for the 
same end. The inevitable result was war, and 
the dependent states were compelled to vary their 
allegiance and submit to the victorious power. 

These attacks finally culminated in the destruction 
of Ayuthia by the Burmese and its abandonment 
by the Siamese as a capital. 

The nearer to our own times, the more exact and 
explicit the history proves to be ; the chronicles as 
related by Somdet Pra Paramamijit breaks off with 
the reign of Khun Hluang Tak, who, after the de- 
struction of Ayuthia, collected the shattered forces 
of the Siamese Army and eventually re-established 
the dominion, founding his capital on the west bank 
of the Menam Chow Phya at Bangkok. 

After the deposition of this monarch who became 
mentally deranged, and was succeeded by the first 
king of the present dynasty, we have the Annals of 
Bangkok. These annals were compiled from original 
sources by the late Chow Phya Thipakarawongse. 



84 Kingdom of Siam 

The modern history of Siam may be considered 
to begin under King Mongkut (1851-1868), when 
Siam entered into treaties with foreign powers grant- 
ing the rights of exterritoriahty to their subjects, 
and the opening of the Suez Canal brought the na- 
tions of the West into closer contact with those of 
the Orient. 

With the opening of the Canal the attention of 
the Western nations was turned towards the East, 
and it was through their colonial expansion that, 
indirectly, a large influence was brought to bear on 
the development of the country. 

Besides these annals, the attention of those inter- 
ested in the history of the country should be called 
to the collection of the laws of Siam, made in the 
year 1807 by a commission appointed by King Phra 
Buddha Yot Fa, and since 1872 frequently reprinted ; 
the absence of a proper chronology is, however, 
much to be deplored. Nevertheless a careful study 
of these laws, taken in conjunction with the facts re- 
lated in the annals, would probably be instrumental 
in constructing an authoritative history of the last 
six hundred years both from an historical and intel- 
lectual standpoint. 

Another source of the history of Siam are the 
local chronicles regarding the origin of the more 




A Temple 



From an Historical Standpoint 85 

famous statues of the Buddha; an archaeological 
survey would also perhaps throw a welcome light 
on its history, whilst the chronicles of the neighbor- 
ing countries of Annam, Burmah, Pegu, and Cam- 
bodia would elucidate the more obscure points. 
The description of early travellers and residents 
should also not be neglected, though scarcely any 
of them are free from a certain bias. 

This is more especially the case with regard to the 
narratives of the French travellers who visited Siam 
in the seventeenth century a most interesting period 
of its history.' 

The descriptions of modern travellers from the 
last part of the nineteenth century are written under 
preconceived ideas and inadequate knowledge and 
may be disregarded by any one who undertakes a 
serious study of Siamese history. 

Happily we have for the last two reigns the 
official gazette in which everything of importance is 
chronicled and the laws by which the country is 
governed are promulgated. This forms an adequate 
source of the history of Siam in latter years. ^ 

^ Cp. Lanier, Etude histoi'ique stir les relations de la France et dii 
royaunie de Siam de J662-IJOJ, Versailles, 1823 ; Anderson, 
English Intercourse with Siam in the Seventeenth Century\ London, 
1890. 

'^Cp. Satow, Essay towards a Bibliography of Siam, Singapore, 1886. 



CHAPTER VI 

LANGUAGE OF SIAM 



87 



CHAPTER VI 

LANGUAGE OF SIAM, BY DR. O. FRANKFURTER, 
SIAMESE FOREIGN OFFICE 

THE Tai family of language to which Thai, 
the language of the people of Siam, belongs, 
is spoken with slight but well-defined phonetic 
differentiations, east from the frontier of Thibet 
and south from the Chinese frontier, through the 
whole valley of the Menam Chow Phya (Siamese) 
down to Songkla (Singora), in the Malay Peninsula, 
and west from the frontiers of Annam, Tonquin, 
Cochin China, and Cambodia. The characters in 
which these languages are written are derived from 
Indian alphabets, and their affinity with those in 
which Cambodian, Burmese, and Peguan, and the 
language of the continent of India and of Ceylon are 
written can be easily traced. It is clear that the 
forms of the characters were influenced by the ma- 
terial used in writing (copper plates, stone, palm 
leaves, paper written by stiles, chisels, brushes). 

89 



go Kingdom of Siam 

The alphabets are akin to those of Sanskrit and 
Pali, — syllabic. 

The affinity of the Tai group with other languages 
is not certain, but there is no connection with the 
Mon-Annam group or the Malayan family. 

The character of the language is that of a tonal 
one. There are five tones in the language, but 
differentiation of meaning is not, as a rule, expressed 
in the same word by tones. These tones are known 
as the tonus rectus, circumflexus, demissus, gravis, 
altus (Pallegoix, Graminatica LingiKE Thai), and 
their pronunciation is roughly indicated by their 
nomenclature, most of the words are, however, pro- 
nounced in the tonus rectus. 

The unit of speech is the sentence, and conse- 
quently there are no distinct words for the different 
parts of speech, as practically any word according to 
the context in which it occurs may perform the 
function of verb, noun, adjective, pronoun, etc. 

In the sentence the determinating word follows 
the determined word, contrary to the invariable rule 
of Chinese, where the determinating word precedes 
the determined word. 

Loan words and especially abstract terms are 
mostly derived from Sanskrit and Pali, although of 
course the words of commodities introduced through 



Language of Siam 91 

intercourse with European nations are derived from 
European languages. Thus we have derived from 
Portuguese, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
for instance, the words for paper, bread, soap, 
cloth. In the same way, commodities of Chinese 
origin are designated by Chinese words, such as 
terms for ships and furniture, etc. 

In more modern times, loan words for European 
commodities were derived from the English, but 
now there is a marked tendency to employ words 
for new commodities from the stock already existing 
or to derive them from Sanskrit or Pali words. 

It goes without saying that in the frontier districts 
we find the influence of the bordering language and 
consequently loan words from Annam, Cambodia, 
Burmah, China, etc' 

^ Diguel, ^tude de la langue Tai, Hanoi, 1895. 
Frankfurter, Elements of Siamese Grammar^ Leipzig, 1900. 
Lorgeou, Grammaire Siamoise, Paris, igo2. 



CHAPTER VII 

RELIGION OF SIAM 



93 



CHAPTER VII : 

RELIGION OF SIAM, BY DR. O. FRANKFURTER, 
SIAMESE FOREIGN OFFICE 



THE religion of the state is Buddhism, while all 
other religious creeds are granted full liberty 
of worship, nor are their followers, by virtue of their 
creed, prevented from occupying any secular office 
under the administration or disabled in any other 
way. 

The king is the highest "supporter of the doc- 
trine," and stands at the head of the religion, and 
in consequence of this position a spiritual hierarchy 
has developed which corresponds in many ways to 
the position of the temporal hierarchy. The king 
appoints all ecclesiastical dignitaries, and they as 
well as all other priests and monks are, with regard 
to their temporal affairs, under the Ministry of 
Public Worship. 

First in the hierarchical order are the four Somdet 
Phra Chow Rajagana (archpriests), who stand at the 

95 



9^ Kingdom of Siam 

head of different assemblies of priests and monks. 
From among these four dignitaries the king appoints 
the Somdet Phra Sangharaja (prince of priests), who, 
as his title implies, is the head of the entire ecclesi- 
astical order. The whole kingdom is divided among 
these four dignitaries, of whom there is one for the 
northern division, one for the southern, one for the 
sect of the Dhammayutika, and one for the hermits. 
The Dhammayutika are a sect formed under King 
Mongkut, with the aim of bringing the doctrine in 
outward matters (initiation into the priesthood, 
dress, etc.) more in accordance with the pristine 
teachings ; whilst the archpriest appointed for the 
hermits (of whom there are not very many now), 
i. e., those living in secluded places, follows the king 
into the province. These archpriests receive from 
the king, just as the highest officials of state, gold 
or silver tablets recording their titles. Next in the 
hierarchical order are the five high-priests to assist 
the archpriests, and after them fourteen dignitaries 
in whose official titles the words Dhamma, Raja, 
Deva enter. In the hands of these twenty-three 
priests lies the supervision of the doctrine in all re- 
spects. Then follows an official list of twelve gurus 
(teachers) who, as their title implies, are to assist in 
teaching the doctrine. These also receive their 







O 

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Religion of Siam 97 

official appointment from the king, whilst other 
gurus or teachers are appointed by the archpriests, 
corresponding in this respect to civil officials who 
receive their appointments from the hands of the 
responsible minister. 

These gurus can be appointed heads of temples, 
and sometimes the title is bestowed on them, as the 
recognition of special service rendered in scholarship, 
as an honorary degree. The priests next in rank 
are those who hold official positions or are appointed 
to a certain office under the archpriests, the high- 
priests, the heads of temples, so that their official 
position only lasts as long as the superior who has 
appointed them holds his office. They are entrusted 
with the ritual, and act as judges and arbiters in 
cases of discipline. A numerous class of priests are 
formed by the "Barien " scholars, who receive their 
title after having passed an examination in Pali, in 
the sacred books, and in the commentaries. There 
are nine steps in these examinations and they must 
be taken one after the other. They are entitled to 
the epithet "Maha" (eminent) before their own 
names, but they hold no official position in the 
government ecclesiastical service, although from 
their ranks the officials are mostly recruited; they 
also receive a "fan" as a mark of honor from the 



98 Kingdom of Siam 

king. The Acariya are those who make a study of 
the outward manifestation of the religion, and their 
services are required in connection with royal 
festivals ; they may receive an official title. As the 
last rank of the priests we have to mention those 
priests engaged in attending to private ceremonies 
not held in the temples. 

The term "monk" may be applied to the large class 
of persons living in the temples without any official 
rank and engaged more or less earnestly in the study 
of the sacred writings or in meditation. It is, more- 
over, an essential part of the education of a Siamese, 
when he has completed his twentieth year, to enter 
a temple for a time. Many of the Siamese while 
still boys of fourteen or fifteen also enter as novices 
{Sajnaneras) for a short period, in the upper classes 
usually from six months to a year. This custom, 
however, is not so universal as their entering as 
priests when grown up. There is no restriction 
placed on a priest as to the duration of his stay in 
the priesthood, but while a monk he has strictly to 
obey the rules of the order. 

The initiation generally takes place at the com- 
mencement of the rainy season (full moon of the eighth 
month, i. e., July), and is always accompanied by a 
festival. It forms the conclusion of the education. 




'A 
O 

o 
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Religion of Siam 99 

This initiation and service in the priesthood is of 
special importance to the princes of the reigning 
house, and most particularly to those princes in the 
direct line of succession, for the king as temporal 
head of the religion must have shared in the com- 
mon lot of the followers of Buddha in order that he 
may be in full sympathy with their feelings and 
ideas, and the great reverence in which the priest- 
hood is held forms a firm bond between the highest 
and the lowest in the land. 

It can thus be clearly understood that the priests 
are under the strict control of the state. From it 
they draw their power, by it they are provided with 
means of subsistence, under it they form an hier- 
archical order. In the hands of the priests was 
from the olden time the practical and religious edu- 
cation of the people, as it is even now controlled by 
the Education Department. The priests are to a 
large extent, formerly more so than at present, the 
physicians of the people, and they certainly also help 
them in their spiritual needs. 

With regard to the tenets of Buddhism as prac- 
tised in this country, it can only be said that it is the 
Buddhism of the southern school. The sacred books 
contained in the Tripitaka, known in Ceylon and 
Burmah, are likewise known in Siam, and it was from 



loo Kingdom of Siam 

this country that the editio princeps was issued a 
few years ago. Amongst the educated classes, 
Buddhism is practised in its pristine purity, while 
of course, just as elsewhere, superstitious practices 
have crept into the popular belief. Buddhism in 
Siam has kept clear, however, of esoteric influence, 
as it was prevalent a few years ago in Ceylon under 
European influence ; it has thus kept the command 
forbidding to claim or to aspire to supernatural 
power, whilst Nirvana is rightly explained as the 
extinction of the three fires of lust, hatred, and de- 
lusion. A more realistic view is taken, however, 
among the people, who believe in future substantial 
states, and in a migration of souls which enter new 
bodies according to the good or evil deeds per- 
formed in this world, though according to the pris- 
tine teaching it is only the deeds, as such, that 
survive. 

This may perhaps be due to the birth stories 
which, although they do not form part of the sacred 
writings, are well known in Siam as in other Bud- 
dhist countries. These birth stories are in many 
cases old folklore tales which were used to illustrate 
a verse in the sacred writings. 

With regard to the whole doctrine of life and 
death as presented in Buddhism, we will quote from 



Religion of Siam loi 

the sermon preached by Somdet Pra Vanarat at the 
memorial service of the late Crown Prince, in whose 
words is found a solution of the whole question both 
with regard to the dead and the living. 

"In the life of sentient beings there is no cer- 
tainty. We know not when or for what reasons life 
will be extinguished. No one is able to guarantee 
existence ; short is our life and swiftly are we ex- 
tinguished, and our sorrow never ceases. As the 
potter's work will be broken, so our life will come 
to an end, and whether children, young or old, 
whether foolish or wise, all fall under sway of death. 
We may speak of days, months, and years ; but we 
cannot say when our existence will come to an end. 
No one is spared, whether of kingly origin or a 
Brahmana, whether a Vaisaya or a Sudra, whether 
of the lowest caste or a slave; all fall under the 
sway of death. When we depart from one existence 
to another, the parents cannot protect their child, 
nor will the love of the kinsman avail aught to his 
kin ; the lamentations and grief over the departed 
do not benefit him. Death is the natural conse- 
quence of existence, and our life is like that of 
the cow which the Brahmana leads to the altar 
for sacrifice. Knowing this, what will lamenting 
over the departed benefit us? The dead are not 



I02 Kingdom of Siam 

supported by our grief. The dead have no con- 
sciousness of our acts, and they have prepared their 
existence by their own deeds. Everything is sub- 
ject to change, although we may think it permanent ; 
this is the law of the universe. 

"Thus having listened to the words of the Fully 
Enlightened One, we know that the dead cannot 
come to life again ; therefore let us cease lamenting 
and turn our attention to the living, so that the 
country may prosper; work for the living. For 
such is the work of the living, when death has not 
yet reached them. We are born and die, this is the 
way of the world ; but the good works we do in this 
world, they will bear fruit in future, they will last." ' 

^ Cp. Phra Phachonwilat, Thatn nieh Samana Sakdi (" The Rank 
of the Priests "), Bangkok, 1902 ; Kotmai Phra Songh, Laws Gov- 
erning the Priesthood in Kotmai Thai^ vol. ii., Bangkok ; Chow 
Phya Thipakarawongse Kinanukit, translated by Alabaster, Modern 
Buddhist, London, 1870; also, Wheel of the Law, London, 1871. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE CAPITAL 



103 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE CAPITAL, BY THE SECRETARY-GENERAL 

THE capital of Siam is Bangkok, situated on the 
river Menam, about fourteen miles from the 
sea, though owing to the winding of the stream it 
is about twenty-five miles by river. It is a most 
interesting town for travellers, and their number in- 
creases year by year. 

Owing to the bar at the mouth of the river, ves- 
sels drawing more than fourteen feet of water cannot 
come up to the town, so that the only main line of 
steamers which calls is the East Asiatic line from 
Copenhagen to Shanghai ; however, there are almost 
daily steamers of some one thousand tons to Singa- 
pore and Hong Kong. 

The main portion of the city lies on the east side 
of the river, though the west side is thickly popu- 
lated on the banks. The old name given by travel- 
lers to this town was ''the Venice of the East," and 
fifty years ago it was a good description ; since then 

105 



io6 Kingdom of Siam 

roads have been made, the canals have been bridged, 
and electric tramways cross the city in various 
directions. 

Bangkok is the chief city of Siam in every sense : 
it is the chief port, the chief commercial centre, the 
centre of the Government, and principal residence of 
the king and royal family. 

Unlike most other Eastern cities, there is no for- 
eign quarter, but the European houses *are dotted 
about the city, the suburbs, the banks of the river, 
and the busiest part of the town. 

The nucleus of Bangkok is the royal palace, situ- 
ated on a bend of the river. The outer walls of the 
palace enclose an immense area, but the ground de- 
voted to the actual residence and garden is compara- 
tively small. Within the walls are various ministries, 
namely, the Foreign Office, the Treasury, the Min- 
istry of the Interior, the Ministry of the Household, 
and, in addition, the Royal Library, Legislative 
Council, a magnificent Buddhist temple, barracks, 
etc. Surrounding the palace on the land side is the 
city proper, formerly surrounded by a massive em- 
battlemented wall and pierced by lofty gates. Most 
of the wall has now been pulled down, and a boule- 
vard constructed, and of the gates few have with- 
stood the modern desire for wide roads. Most of 




u 



The Capital 107 

the roads are macadamized, drained, and planted 
with trees, and many of the sidewalks are protected 
from the sun and rain by lean-to roofs projecting 
from the houses. Next to the palace is a large open 
space of grass of an oval shape surrounded by trees. 
This is the Premane ground, formerly used for the 
royal cremations, but now used for drilling troops, 
kite-flying, cricket, foot-ball matches, and golfing. 

Anchored in the river, between the palace and the 
naval dockyard, are the royal yachts and such of 
the gunboats as are not cruising in the gulf or con- 
veying troops to distant parts of the kingdom. 

From the palace to the southeast stretches the 
New Road, the oldest of the roads built outside the 
city. Formerly an elephant track running parallel 
to the river, along the backs of the houses which 
faced the river, it now passes through a densely 
populated quarter and is the busiest road in the 
town. Lined on both sides by shops for some three 
miles, it is traversed by electric trams which follow 
one another every few minutes, while carriages, 
jinrikishas, bullock carts, and native omnibuses 
pass in a perpetual stream. It is intersected at 
right angles by numerous roads leading to the river, 
but the farther it gets from the palace the less 
densely populated it becomes, and after passing 



io8 Kingdom of Siam 

through the rice-mill district it ends close by the 
abattoirs. 

From the Premane ground to the northeast 
stretches the finest boulevard in Bangkok, leading 
from the royal palace to Dusit Park, a private resi- 
dence of the king. It is not quite finished yet 
within the city walls, but the section from the city 
walls to Dusit Park, a distance of over a mile, is now 
open. This boulevard consists of three carriage- 
ways, separated from one another by double lines of 
trees and bordered by shady footpaths. 

The palace is surrounded by ornamental gardens 
open to the public, and the whole quarter is laid out 
as a purely residential district, the houses being oc- 
cupied by the princes and noblemen of the court. 
Between this quarter and the river runs the Samsen 
Road, corresponding to the New Road below the 
palace, but far less densely populated. It has a 
good service of electric trams. Running between 
these two main roads are many subsidiary roads; 
the total length of carriage roads being some one 
hundred and twenty miles. The river is hardly less 
crowded than the New Road. Both sides for miles 
above and below the palace are lined by floating 
houses, most of which are occupied by traders, who, 
taking down their front shutters, wait quietly for 



The Capital 109 

their customers to arrive in boats or launches and 
take their purchases away with them. These houses 
consist generally of several rooms and are supported 
on pontoons; the row is only broken by landing 
stages and the mouths of canals. Built in Siamese 
style, with the curious gable characteristic of 
Siamese architecture, they form one of the unique 
and interesting sights of Bangkok. 

Down the middle of the stream are anchored the 
ocean-going steamers flying the flags of many na- 
tions, sailing boats loading teak for the European 
and American markets, whilst in and out and from 
shore to shore scurry steam launches of every sort 
and shape. With the tide, huge rice-boats bring 
the harvest to the rice-mills, and rafts of teak logs, 
which may have been years on their journey from 
the north, follow a puffing launch which has picked 
them up above the city to tow them to the mill. 
Then there are house-boats, with two or more 
rowers ; a priest's boat, paddled by ten of his pupils ; 
boats which ply for hire and carry eight to twelve 
passengers, rowed and steered by one man like a 
gondola; tiny canoes, beyond the skill of Europeans 
to manage, holding just the postman and his bag of 
mail, or perhaps a travelling cook who, with his pot 
of boiling rice on a little stove in front of him and 



I lo Kingdom of Siam 

the rest of his cuisine cunningly stowed around him, 
drives a roaring trade with the boatmen and dwellers 
in floating houses, dispensing his goods with the one 
hand and keeping the boat steady with the other. 

A noticeable featurfe in the river life is the water 
markets at certain places along the banks ; a regular 
market is held which begins soon after midnight and 
lasts till seven or eight in the morning. 

Both buyers and sellers are chiefly women. The 
sellers come in small boats bringing fish, eggs, fruit, 
etc., which they have themselves grown, and one 
may see two or three hundred small boats, each 
with its little lamp, the owners talking and laughing 
with their neighbors. Then as soon as the sun has 
risen they begin to return home, and what was a 
busy market is now an open space of river. 

To foreigners the most interesting things to be 
studied, after the life and customs of the inhabi- 
tants, are the royal palace with its surroundings and 
the numerous Buddhist temples. 

The town of Bangkok being comparatively modern 
(1782) is interesting chiefly on account of its up-to- 
dateness, but within easy reach of Bangkok by rail 
are many places of historic interest such as Ayuthia 
(the old capital), Korat, Rachburee, Prapatom, 
Petchaburee, etc. 




o 

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The Capital 1 1 1 

The population of Bangkok is estimated at five 
hundred thousand souls, of whom, some eight to 
nine hundred are Europeans or Americans. Besides 
these, the foreign element includes Chinese, Japan- 
ese, Koreans, Malays, Javanese, Hindus, Klings, 
Pathans, Afghans, Burmese, Arabs, Cambodians, 
Annamites, most of whom are rendered conspicuous 
by their national dress, which they seldom abandon. 
Owing to this habit of retaining their national dress, 
which differentiates them from the rest of the peo- 
ple, a casual observer is apt to overestimate the 
foreign population, the number of which, excluding 
the Chinese, is comparatively small. 

The Chinese population, by the returns of the 
poll-tax in 1900, was 65,345 male adults, and the 
entire estimated Chinese population, allowing for 
old men, women, and children, who pay no tax, 
85,500. In 1903, owing to exceptional circum- 
stances, the number rose to 100,000. 

Bangkok is the terminus of four lines of railway. 
It has a fine service of electric trams, and is well lit 
by electricity. It possesses one of the finest race- 
courses in the East, a United Club, open to all 
nationalities, a Siamese Club, a German Club, a 
Golf Club, and a Sports Club, several European- 
managed hotels, three banks, a French hospital, and 



112 Kingdom of Siam 

a British nursing home, English, French, Danish, 
German, and American doctors, besides numerous 
Siamese hospitals and medical men. The climate 
and rainfall are those of Lower Siam. Further de- 
tails and statistics relating to the capital will be 
found in the various sections. 

THE PORT HEALTH DEPARTMENT 

The sanitary service of the port of Bangkok is 
directly under the control of the Ministry of Local 
Government, and is directed by the Medical Officer 
of Health, assisted by two medical boarding officers, 
orderlies, boatmen, coolies, and a large staff of police 
told off specially for this duty. The sanitary sta- 
tions are two in number: one at the island of Koh 
Phai, some thirty miles beyond the bar; and the 
other at the customs station at Paknam, within the 
mouth of the river Menam Chow Phya. 

At Koh Phai, where alone sick or inspected per- 
sons are landed, there are, besides medical officers' 
quarters, hospital quarters for Europeans and several 
large barracks capable of accommodating fifteen 
hundred Chinese coolies. Police barracks, coolies' 
quarters, storerooms, and a water-condensing ap- 
paratus make up the complement of equipment. 




<: 

o 

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The Capital 113 

Throughout the year, all ships from Hong-Kong or 
China ports are medically inspected on their arrival. 
When quarantine is declared against any port, a 
period of nine days' quarantine is enforced and in- 
spection takes place at Koh Phai. 

According to the maritime decree, the fnedical 
officer may board and examine any ship arriving in 
Siamese waters no matter whence it has come, and 
ships which have already obtained pratique are still 
liable to control within the port. 

During the past year, 262 ships were inspected, 
and 35,028 passengers were medically examined. It 
may be interesting to record that although plague has 
every year assumed epidemic form in Hong-Kong, 
a distance of seven days' steaming from Bangkok, no 
cases of plague, so far as it is known, have got beyond 
the quarantine station. 

THE CATTLE TRADE AND GOVERNMENT ABATTOIRS 

A considerable export of cattle from Bangkok to 
Singapore takes place every year. In Singapore the 
smaller animals are slaughtered for food, while the 
larger cattle are sent to the adjacent Malay and 
Dutch states for draft purposes. 

Owing to a severe and widely extended epidemic 



114 Kingdom of Siam 

of rinderpest in Siam six years ago, the whole sys- 
tem of cattle inspection before export was reorgan- 
ized. A royal decree was proclaimed giving to 
the Medical Officer of Health full control over the 
importation of cattle into the port of Bangkok, 
their detention in Bangkok, and the manner of 
export. At the same time powers were given deal- 
ing with the slaughter of cattle for food and with 
the care of milk cows and of cowsheds throughout 
the town. 

A large piece of ground was purchased of the 
Government, and upon it were erected two large 
sheds, each capable of accommodating five hundred 
head of cattle. There was also built a quarantine 
shed capable of holding two hundred sick cattle, 
and at a distance of three hundred metres from the 
main sheds. A public abattoir was also erected, of 
such a size as will be sufficient for all needs for many 
years to come. In addition, there are the officers', 
inspectors', and coolies' houses. The cattle sheds 
are floored with compressed brick pointed in cement, 
while the abattoir is floored with concrete and cement 
and has steel and iron fittings. 

Cattle can only be landed in Bangkok at the gov- 
ernment wharf alongside the bullock sheds. This 
wharf was specially built to enable the ordinary 




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The Capital 115 

trading steamers to go alongside in order to load 
the bullocks. 

Although rinderpest has practically died out, foot- 
and-mouth disease is almost always present in Siam. 
All bullocks are therefore subjected to eight days' 
medical observation in the government sheds free 
of rent. They are then slaughtered for food, or, as 
is the case with the great majority, are exported to 
Singapore. Before being passed for export by the 
customs authorities, each owner must show the ex- 
port pass from the Medical Officer of Health certify- 
ing that the cattle have been quarantined for eight 
days and have been stamped as healthy. 

Slaughtering of animals for food is only permitted 
in the government abattoir. Each animal is ex- 
amined when alive, and the flesh is again examined 
before being allowed to be taken away from the 
abattoir, when, if found healthy, it is stamped with 
the medical officer's seal. The flesh of a bullock 
found in the market without this seal is presumed to 
have been slaughtered illegally and is confiscated 
and destroyed. 

The dead meat is transported from the abattoirs 
to the butchers' shops in a specially constructed 
electric car run on the public electric tramway, thus 
ensuring prompt and clean delivery. 



ii6 



Kingdom of Siam 



The following figures show the work done during 
the past year at the cattle station : 

Cattle landed, 1 5,907; exported, 8574; slaughtered 
for food, 69CX). 



METEOROLOGY 



Daily readings of temperature and rainfall are 
taken by the Medical Officer of Health. The fol- 
lowing is an abstract of last year's readings from ist 
April, 1902, until 31st March, 1903: 



Month 






April 

May 

June 

July 

August . . . 
September 
October . . 
November 
December. 
January. . . 
February . 
March. . . . 



86. 

85.8 

86.5 

85. 

84.1 

82.4 

83. 

82.4 

81.2 

80.6 

80.7 

86. 



a 


u 


X 


X 


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Annual mean temperature. 



83.6 



Total rainfall. . . .46.47 




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The Capital 117 

DRAINAGE 

In Bangkok there is no system of drainage by 
closed pipes such as one sees in European countries. 
The numerous canals which intersect the city, as well 
as the deep and quickly flowing rivers, are the main 
sewers of Bangkok. These are flushed daily by the 
rise and fall of the tide, the influence of which is felt 
for many miles above the city. In addition to these 
natural drains, side drains have been constructed 
by the Sanitary Department alongside most of the 
streets. Into these flow the flood water after rain- 
fall, as well as the soiled water from the neighboring 
dwelling-houses. Many of the drains have now been 
provided with sluice-gates where they join canals ; 
the gates are opened at low water, and thus the 
drains are effectually flushed, the cleansing being 
assisted by sweepers. These drains are solidly built 
brick culverts lined with cement, and with man-holes 
every four metres apart to enable the coolies to 
cleanse the drains more easily. 

As the pail system of conservancy is employed, 
nothing but bath, kitchen, and surface water enters 
these drains, so that complaints of their being of- 
fensive are not so frequent as might be imagined 
by those unaccustomed to such an open system of 
diainage. 



1 1 8 Kingdom of Siam 



REMOVAL OF HOUSE REFUSE 

This is done entirely by the Sanitary Department. 
Seven bullock carts and metal hand-carts are used 
for this purpose, and by aid of these some fourteen 
tons of refuse are carted away daily. In the mean- 
time this refuse is utilized for the purpose of filling 
up marshy holes in and about the city. When 
enough refuse has been deposited, a layer of good 
soil is scattered upon the surface as a deodorant, 
and in a year, so rapid is the disintegration of all 
vegetable refuse in this climate, it is found that 
what was once a rubbish heap has become trans- 
formed into innocuous soil. 

It is proposed to erect refuse incinerators, not only 
to destroy the ordinary refuse, but also to desiccate 
the night soil so that it may be sold as a fertilizer. 

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LATRINES 

Within the city of Bangkok there are now seventy- 
nine public latrines with a total of 361 rooms. The 
bucket system is employed and the daily changing 
of these is given out to contractors. An average of 
three thousand buckets of one gallon capacity are 
removed daily from these public latrines and from 
private houses. The night soil is taken first to a 



The Capital 119 

central depot, it is there emptied into barges spe- 
cially built for the purpose, and is then taken away 
some miles beyond the limits of the city where it is 
buried. 

BANGKOK REVENUE DEPARTMENT 

This department collects the various taxes in the 
province of Bangkok. The total taxes collected 
amounted to 1,800,000 ticals. 

It has also charge of the Chinese poll-tax, which 
is collected every three years. During the year 
1903, the tax was paid by nearly one hundred thou- 
sand Chinese, a number largely in excess of the pre- 
vious collection. This increase is due to the fact 
that owing to competition the fare from China was 
less that $1, and immense numbers took advantage 
of this cheap rate. 

THE SANITARY DEPARTMENT 

This department was instituted in the year 1897 
for the city of Bangkok. The department is under 
charge of the Vice-Minister, who is assisted by 
directors of the various departments, a municipal 
engineer, a medical officer of health, and numerous 
assistant inspectors, clerks, etc. 

The main duties of this department are: 



I20 Kingdom of Siam 

I. The construction and maintenance of the roads 
and bridges. 

II. The collection and disposal of all refuse. 

III. The enacting and enforcing of regulations 
against infectious diseases both of men and cattle. 
The budget of the department amounted last year 
to 810,520 ticals (^i equals 17 ticals) and a special 
allotment of 229,120 ticals. 

The only revenue derived is the tax on bullocks 
slaughtered in the government abattoirs, which 
amounted to ten thousand ticals. The annual 
amount thus spent on the sanitation of the city by 
the Government amounted to 1,111,064 ticals, or 
over ;^65,ooo. 

BANGKOK POLICE, BY THE COMMISSIONER OF 

POLICE 

The Bangkok police is a force of 3580 ofificers and 
men of the following ranks : 

Commissioner i 

Divisional Superintendents 4 

Assistant Divisional Superintendents 8 

Chief Inspectors 16 

Inspectors 23 

Head Constables 45 

Sergeants 232 

Constables 3078 

Office staffs 73 



The Capital 121 

The commissionership extends over the province 
of Bangkok and also includes the pob'cing of all 
the state railways. It is divided into four districts: 
Bangkok town; northern suburbs; southern sub- 
urbs; railway district. 

The force is composed of the following nationali- 
ties: Siamese, 3252; Europeans, 8; natives of In- 
dia, Hindus, Pathans, and Sikhs, 320. 

The force is recruited from all parts of Siam, en- 
listment being particularly popular in the districts 
of Korat and Lopburi, large numbers of Laos from 
those two districts joining every year. Amongst 
the native of India, Pathans largely predominate. 
The uniform of the men is khaki coat and pants, 
putties, with round cap. 

In the town district the cap and putties are dark 
blue, in both the suburbs divisions the cap and 
putties are khaki, and in the railway district the cap 
is khaki and the putties are dark green. 

The uniform of the officers is: full dress — dark 
blue ; undress — white or khaki. 

On first joining the town force, the recruit goes 
through a course of two months' training at the 
police school. He is there taught drill, police regu- 
lations, elementary law, and reading and writing, if 
not already able to read and write. 



122 Kingdom of Siam 

There are usually about 1 80 recruits under training. 

The officers — i. e., head constables and those 
above that grade — are recruited both by promotion 
from the ranks and by special enlistment. 

The number of officers promoted from the ranks 
is small. In the case of special enlistment the 
officer recruit undergoes a training which varies 
from six to ten months, according to circumstances. 
Whilst under training, he receives a small allowance 
and is attached to a station under the supervision 
of an officer of experience who is responsible for his 
training. 

In the system of administration the station circle 
is the unit. This circle necessarily varies greatly in 
importance, the biggest station circle having one 
hundred and fifty men attached to it, and the 
smallest twenty men. According to size and im- 
portance, the stations are under the direct command 
of an inspector or head constable or sergeant. The 
stations are grouped together in a series of chief in- 
spectorships, each group being under a chief in- 
spector. These again are grouped into subdivisions, 
each subdivision being under an assistant superin- 
tendent. The subdivisions are grouped into divi- 
sions, each under a divisional superintendent, and 
the commissioner supervises the whole. 



The Capital 123 

The duties of the police are the same as elsewhere, 
being the investigation and detection and suppression 
of crime. The police also undertake the prosecution 
of all cases reported to them in the courts of first 
hearing. They also supervise the pawnshops and 
enforce the canal regulations. Permits for theatrical 
performances, etc., are issued by the police, and 
they are responsible for the maintenance of good 
order at such performances. The force also supplies 
watchmen to private employers. These men belong 
to the force but are paid for by the employer. The 
number of men so supplied is 205. 

The work of the police is rendered more difficult 
by the very large number of courts. 

Owing to the system of extra-territoriality, each 
treaty power has its own consular court. In ad- 
dition to the ordinary criminal courts, there are in 
Bangkok ten consular courts, each having a different 
procedure and different system of law. 

Another of the difficulties is the very large num- 
ber of languages spoken, and although many police 
officers of and above the rank of head constable can 
speak two languages, and many three or more, it 
frequently happens that a complainant is quite un- 
able to make himself understood. 

In addition to the ordinary police, but included 



124 Kingdom of Siam 

in the totals already given, there is a Special Branch 
Police, a detective force, consisting of the following: 

Assistant Superintendent I 

Chief Inspector I 

Inspectors 4 

Head Constable I 

Sergeants 18 

Constables 90 

The assistant superintendent in charge of this 
branch is also the licensing officer of pawnshops. 

Until the year 1901 there was no supervision of 
pawnshops. Before that time there were 432 shops, 
all of which habitually acted as receivers of stolen 
property. As there were no regulations of any sort 
and as the owners were under very many different 
jurisdictions, it was practically impossible to suppress 
crime. 

In April, 1901, the pawnshop regulations became 
law, and there are now ninety-five pawnshops which 
are under strict laws. 

Under the regulations, all forfeited pledges in 
pawnshops are examined by the police before any 
can be sold, and are compared by them with the lists 
of stolen property. For facility of reference, all 
property is divided into certain classes, and the de- 
scription of each kind is entered in the appropriate 




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The Capital 125 

volume, each inspector being provided with a com- 
plete set of volumes. Every morning at 8 A.M., the 
description of all property stolen during the previous 
twenty-four hours is sent to the Special Branch, the 
descriptions are entered in the volumes of stolen 
property, and the lists are then printed ofT and one 
copy sent to every pawnshop. In the event of any 
pawnbroker being already in possession of any of 
the property described or subsequently receiving it, 
he is obliged under heavy penalties to report the 
fact to the nearest station. To ensure his doing so, 
the examination of forfeited pledges already de- 
scribed is made. Another of the duties of the 
Special Branch is the identification of previously con- 
victed offenders. The method in use on the Bang- 
kok police is the finger-print method, the prints 
being classified by Henery's system. The bureau 
is maintained by the jail department. The finger- 
prints of every man arrested for serious crime are 
despatched each morning to the bureau. They 
are there examined, and in those cases where the 
offender has been previously convicted his former 
convictions are entered on a form which is taken 
to the court and attached to the case papers before 
the court opens for the day. 

The finger-print is also utilized for the detection of 



126 Kingdom of Siam 

crime ; every person who pawns an article being re- 
quired to place the print of his right thumb on the 
pawn-ticket counterfoil. 

In those numerous cases in which suspicion has 
fallen on several persons, and there is no clear proof 
against any of them, this affords a very valuable 
clue to the police, as an inspection of the fingers of 
the suspected reveals who, if any of them, was the 
person who pawned the recovered stolen property. 

Although the system has been in force for only a 
few months, it has already resulted in the detection 
and conviction of many offenders. The latest avail- 
able criminal statistics are for the year ending March 

31, 1903- 

During the year, viz., April i, 1902, to March 31, 

1903, 12,137 cases were taken up by the police on 

report. 

For these offences 11,409 persons were arrested, 
of whom 5653 were convicted. 

In 1 191 cases the accused were allowed to com- 
pound with the complainants. 

Of the total of 12,137, 3575 were of a petty 
nature, being cases of public nuisance, petty assault, 
offences against canal regulations, etc. 

The force as at present constituted has been in 
existence since 1897. 



CHAPTER IX 
FINANCE 



127 



CHAPTER IX 

FINANCE, BY THE ACTING FINANCIAL ADVISER 

THE budget estimates of the kingdom of Siam 
for the year 122 (April i, 1903, to March 31, 
1904) show a revenue of 45,540,000 ticals, an ex- 
penditure of 45,499,365 ticals, and a surplus of 
40)^35 ticals. The first two amounts are largely in 
excess of those for the previous year, and represent 
an advance of over sixteen per cent, on the esti- 
mates for 121 (1902-1903), the corresponding totals 
of which amounted only to 39,000,000 ticals, and 
38,971,271 ticals, respectively. This increase is in 
keeping with the progress recorded during the last 
twelve years, in which period the public revenue 
and expenditure of the country have nearly trebled, 
as will be seen from the figures below : 



Year Receipts Expenditures 

(Ticals) (Ticals) 

111 (1892-93) 15,378,114 14,918,977 

112 (1893-94) 17,389,672 18,174,504 

9 

129 



130 Kingdom of Siam 

Year Receipts Expenditures 

(Ticals) (Ticals) 

113 (1S94-95) 17,334,469 12,487,165 

114 (1895-96) 18,074,690 12,685,697 

115 (1896-97), . . c 20,644,500 18,482,715 

116 (1897-98) 24,808,001 23,996,625 

117 (1898-99) 28,496,029 23,787,582 

118 (1899-I9OO) 29,902,365 27,052,717 

119 (1900-01) 35,611,306 31,841,257 

120 (1901-02) ....36,157,963 36,646,558 

121 (1902-03) 39,000,000 38,971,271 

122 (1903-04) 45,540,000 45,499,365 

The continuous, and in many ways remarkable, 
growth of revenue evidenced by these figures is all 
the more striking in view of the fact that it is the 
result, not of new or enhanced taxation, but merely 
of more effectual methods of collection and financial 
control, combined with the natural expansion of 
trade and cultivation. The expenditure, it can be 
readily understood, keeps pace closely with the 
revenue, since with a rapidly progressing adminis- 
tration and calls for funds from every quarter to 
carry out the numerous schemes brought forward 
for the development of the country and the in- 
creased welfare of its inhabitants, the budget allot- 
ments must always approximate closely to the funds 
available for the undertakings of the year. 

It is, therefore, a matter for genuine satisfaction 
that the revenue continues to show itself so elastic 



Finance 131 

that the Government is able, year after year, to de- 
vote larger and larger sums for the requirements of 
the several departments of state, and the fact may 
fairly be taken as indicative of the steady develop- 
ment of the country, as well as of the real progress 
made in the government of the realm. 

REVENUE 

The appended statement shows the main heads 
of revenue and expenditure, with the amounts esti- 
mated against each for the current year, and the 
following explanations regarding certain of them 
may be of interest. 

The revenue from the first four heads, as their 
names imply, is farmed out annually to the highest 
bidder, who has the right, under Government con- 
trol, of retailing his spirits or opium at certain fixed 
prices, or of running his gambling houses or lottery 
offices, as the case may be, in conformity with the 
regulations in force in that behalf. This system 
ensures a considerable revenue to the Government 
from the heads concerned, with a minimum of 
trouble and expense, and the only item to which 
exception may perhaps be taken is that appertaining 
to gambling, which is open to obvious criticism. 

It must be remembered, however, that the practice 



132 Kingdom of Siam 

is one of very long standing, that the gambling habit 
is deeply ingrained in the Chinese community, who 
constitute an important element in the population 
of the country, and that no Government can af- 
ford to suddenly lose a considerable portion of its 
revenue without violently checking the progress of 
administration. The question whether the total 
suppression of public gambling is practicable is en- 
gaging the attention of the Government, which is 
fully alive to the objections to be urged against the 
practice on moral and economic grounds, and it is 
hoped that it may be possible before long to devise 
a scheme providing a sufficient augmentation of 
revenue from some other sources to make up for 
the loss of that at present derived from the gambling 
farms. In the meantime, it is the policy of the 
Government to reduce the number of gambling 
houses as far as possible, and in pursuance of this 
thirty-eight such houses have been closed during 
the last four years, viz., seven in 1900-01, fifteen in 
1901-02, twelve in 1902-03, and four in the current 
year (1903). 

The customs revenue is derived from a general im- 
port duty of three per cent, ad valorem, and a vary- 
ing export duty on the main products of the country, 
the chief of which are rice, teak-wood, and bullocks 



Finance 133 

— the last being exported principally for consump- 
tion at the neighboring port of Singapore. 

The mining revenue is mainly obtained from roy- 
alty and export duties on tin. This commodity is 
obtained in large quantities in Siamese Malaya, and 
particularly in the province of Puket, on the west 
coast of the Malay Peninsula, which has been de- 
scribed as the Rand of the kingdom. The gross ex- 
port of slab tin from Puket during the year 1902-03 
amounted to 57,893 piculs (about 3430 tons), and 
the direct revenue was over one million ticals. 

The receipts under the head "Royal Mint and 
Treasury " are almost wholly represented by the 
profit accruing to the Government from the coinage 
of ticals, of which it is expected that fourteen mil- 
lion will be minted during the current year to supply 
the requirements of trade. In accordance with the 
scheme brought into force in November, 1902, 
which is referred to in more detail in Chapter 
X., these ticals are issued by the Treasury at a fixed 
rate (at present seventeen to the pound sterling) in 
exchange for gold drafts on London. 

TJie railway traffic receipts for the current year 
show a large increase of eighty-three per cent, on 
those estimated for the previous twelve months — a 
result due partly to the recent opening of a new line 



134 Kingdom of Siam 

of railway, 151 kilometres long, from Bangkok to 
Petchaburi, on the southwest of the capital, and 
also in part to the expectation of increased trafific 
on the northeastern line to Korat, including its ex- 
tension to Lopburi. This very considerable increase 
of receipts is satisfactory evidence of the largely 
extended use of railways in Siam — a circumstance 
which must tend to the convenience and enlighten- 
ment of the inhabitants of the realm and the further- 
ance of trade, both internal and external. 

The octi'oi in Siam is an impost of the nature of a 
transit duty on produce not included in the schedule 
of dutiable articles of export. Its effect being to 
hamper the internal trade of the country to some 
extent, and to raise the cost of living, the question 
of its abolition is engaging the attention of the 
Government. 

TJie Chinese poll-tax is levied triennially on male 
Chinese subjects resident in Siam, while the capita- 
tion tax is an annual impost payable by Siamese 
males of certain classes, in commutation of the 
forced personal labor for the Government, formerly 

exacted. 

EXPENDITURE 

Ministry of the Interior. — In reviewing the ex- 
penditure heads, attention is naturally directed in 



Finance 135 

the first instance to the Ministry of the Interior, 
which controls the greater part of the administration 
of the kingdom, outside the metropolitan province, 
and as an indication of the enormous advance made 
by this ministry in the past decade, it may be men- 
tioned that its expenditure budget has increased 
during that period about fifty-fold — the figure for 
the year 1894-95 being approximately 206,000 ticals, 
while that for the current year exceeds 10,500,000 
ticals. 

The chief items included in the above-mentioned 
sum are: Gendarmerie, 2,560,000 ticals; Revenue 
offices, 1,482,000 ticals; Provincial administration, 
5,275,000 ticals; and Forests, 850,000 ticals. The 
gendarmerie is a police force of a semi-military char- 
acter, officered partly by Europeans ; while the duties 
of the Forest Department are concerned with the 
conservation of the extensive teak forests of North- 
ern Siam, the general control of the timber-extract- 
ing operations conducted therein by the lessees of 
the several tracts, and the collection of the royalty 
and transit dues payable on the timber so removed. 

TJie Ministry of Local Government controls the 
administration of the capital at Bangkok, as well as 
that of the province in which the capital is situated. 
The principal departments under it are those of 



13^ Kingdom of Siam 

Police (1,143,000 ticals), including a special railway 
force, and Sanitation (1,121,064 ticals), which is 
concerned with the conduct of all sanitary arrange- 
ments of the capital, as well as the construction and 
maintenance of the roads and drains of Bangkok and 
the lighting of its public thoroughfares. 

Ministry of Finance. — The principal departments 
included in the figures shown against the Ministry 
of Finance are the Royal Mint, 1,632,000 ticals, and 
the Custom House, 434,000 ticals. As regards the 
former, it may be mentioned that the greater part of 
the sum concerned represents the anticipated profit 
for the current year on the coinage of ticals — the 
whole of which has been charged off on the expen- 
diture side of the budget for transfer to a special 
reserve fund to be formed in connection with the 
scheme lately adopted for placing the currency of 
the country on a gold basis. Further reference to 
this scheme is made in the chapter on Currency, 
but it may be briefly explained here that the policy 
of the Government is to set aside annually the profit 
accruing from the coinage of its metallic currency, 
with a view to creating a gold reserve for the pur- 
pose of ensuring the stability of the tical at the rate 
of exchange to be eventually decided on. 

Ministry of Agriculture. — The expenditure of the 



Finance 137 

Ministry of Agriculture is chiefly incurred in con- 
nection with the following departments, viz., Land 
Registration, 179,000 ticals ; Sericulture, 236,000 
ticals; Mines, 174,000 ticals ; Special Commissioners 
for the Issue of Title-Deeds, 195,000 ticals; and 
Survey Department, 901,000 ticals. 

The departments concerned with the registration 
of land and the issue of title-deeds are creations of 
recent date, and have been established in conformity 
with the policy of the Government to accurately de- 
termine and record the holdings of the land-owning 
classes. The importance of this work cannot be 
overestimated, as it will not only ensure to the 
owners of the fields security of tenure in their hold- 
ings, but also provide the Government with reliable 
data for the assessment of land taxes. 

As regards the Department of Sericulture, which 
is still in its infancy, it will suffice to say that the 
efforts of the Government are directed towards the 
establishment of an agency for the investigation of 
the best methods of silk production, as suited to 
Siam. A Japanese expert was engaged for this 
purpose last year, and his observations and experi- 
ments have been attended with so satisfactory a 
measure of success that it is now the purpose of the 
Government, by the creation of model nurseries in 



J 



8 Kingdom of Siam 



suitable localities and the adoption of modern 
methods of worm-raising and silk-reeling, to provide 
centres of instruction for the classes already engaged 
in this industry. 

Siam at present exports a fair quantity of raw 
silk, but the quality is in all cases poor owing to 
unskilful methods, and, as a consequence, the prices 
obtained are very low compared with those of other 
silk-producing countries. This defect it will be the 
endeavor of the sericultural department to remedy, 
and if the scheme proves successful it should not be 
long before Siamese silk takes its proper place as an 
important and profitable article of export. 

Ministry of Picb lie Works. — The sum shown against 
this head includes the Provincial Buildings and Roads 
branch (1,269,000 ticals), and the Department of 
Posts and Telegraphs (914,000 ticals), but not Rail- 
ways, which are separately shown in the accounts, 
though under the control of the same ministry. 

The sum allotted for road construction in this 
year's budget is chiefly for the province of Puket, 
on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula, and the 
continued opening up of this part of the country by 
improved means of communications should assist 
in still further developing the flourishing tin-mining 
industry carried on there. 




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Finance 139 

Railway Construction. — The policy hitherto 
adopted by the Government has been to construct 
its railways entirely out of revenue, and up to the 
end of the year 121 (1892-93) a sum of over thirty 
million ticals had been so expended. The current 
year's allotment of 1,500,000 ticals is considerably 
less than the average of the last few years, but it is 
proposed to supplement this to the extent of about 
4,500,000 ticals from the accumulated cash reserve 
of the Government, in order to provide funds for 
the further extension of the northern line. This is 
to be pushed on as rapidly as possible to Chieng 
Mai, a town in the extreme north of Siam, and it is 
estimated that the work will be completed in about 
six years at a cost of thirty-six million ticals. 

Miscellaneous. — The items included in this head 
are principally large sums of a special nature, such 
as 1,600,000 ticals for non-recurring expenditure in 
the northern province of Payap, which was disturbed 
last year by a local rising headed by freebooters 
from across the frontier; 300,000 ticals for the civil 
list of H.R.H. the Crown Prince; a like sum for His 
Majesty's tour expenses; and 150,000 ticals for ex- 
penditure connected with Siam's exhibits at the St. 
Louis Exposition, this not representing the whole 
of the expenditure, but the amount allotted for this 



140 



Kingdom of Siam 



year only, a further credit of 30,000 ticals having 
been voted for the year and 70,000 ticals for the 
following year. 

Budget Estimate of the Revenue and Expenditure of the 
Kingdom of Siam for the Year 122 (1903-04) 



Revenue 



Gambling Farm 

Spirit Farm 

Opium Farm 

Lottery Farm 

Miscellaneous Farms 

Taxes on Paddy Lands, Or- 
chards, Gardens, Planta- 
tions, and Fisheries 

Customs 

Forests 

Mines 

Post-office 

Telegraph Department. . . . 

Royal Mint 

Railway Traffic Receipts . . 

Judicial Fees and Fines.. . . 

Prison Manufactures 

Sundry Fees and Licenses. 

Miscellaneous Taxes 

Octroi 

Chinese Poll-Tax 

Capitation Tax 

Rent and Revenue from Gov- 
ernment Property 

Sale of Government Property 

Interest and Profit on Ex- 
change 

Miscellaneous 



Total 

Deduct for short collections 

Total net revenue 



Amount 
(Ticals) 



51757,383 
4,158,583 
7,ii3,3Q6 
2,136,225 
638,170 



4,376,478 

4,384,913 

1,137,322 

1,037,345 

135,940 

537,556 

1,726,920 

2,020,000 

600,405 

67,231 

2,357,765 
69,024 

1,552,303 
792,411 

3,386,937 

179,943 

127,633 

539,000 
1,047,800 



45,880,693 
340,693 



45,540,000 



Expenditure 



Heads 



stry of the Interior 

stry of War 

stry of Foreign Affairs. . 
stry of Local Government 

stry of Finance 

stry of Agriculture 

strj"^ of Justice 

stry of Public Instruction 

stry of Public Works 

M.'s Private Secretary's 



Min 
Min 
Min 
Min 
Min 
Min 
Min 
Min 
Min 
H 

Department 

Legislative Council 

Royal Lictors 

H. M.'s Civil List. 

Pensions, Annuities, and 

Gratuities 

Railway Construction 

Railway Traffic 

Reception of Distinguished 

Visitors 

Exemption Notes 

Miscellaneous 



Total , 



Amount 
(Ticals) 



10,580,018 
6,532,140 
1,005,274 

2,915,554 
3,085,277 
1,906,840 
1,588,566 
1,520,307 
2,183,799 

135,690 

154,948 

120,952 

6,000,000 

730,000 
1,500,000 
1,010,000 

100,000 

350,000 

4,080,000 



45,499,365 



CHAPTER X 

CURRENCY AND BANKING 



141 




CHAPTER X 

CURRENCY AND BANKING, BY THE ACTING 
FINANCIAL ADVISER 



PRIOR to the 27th of November, 1902, the cur- 
rency of Siam was on a purely silver basis, and 
hence, up to that date, the value of its monetary 
unit (the tical) followed the fluctuations of the white 
metal. For many years silver had been steadily 
falling and although, as shown in the chapter on 
Finance, the revenue was exhibiting a most satis- 
factory quality of expansion, the purchasing power 
of the tical was being reduced year by year, and 
larger and larger sums had to be paid by the state 
for all services and commodities whose value was 
measured in gold. His Majesty's Government was, 
therefore, forced to the conclusion that unless it 
took steps to counteract the depreciation of its 
monetary unit (a depreciation the end of which no 
one could foresee), it would be necessary, if the 
progressive efficiency of the administration was to 

143 



144 Kingdom of Siam 

be maintained, to increase taxation to a considerable 
extent. This was regarded as undesirable for many- 
reasons even if its practicability were demonstrated 
and consequently, after mature deliberation, it was 
resolved to prohibit the further free coinage of silver 
— hitherto imported in the form of Mexican and 
British dollars, and exchangeable, by law, without 
limit, at the rate of five ticals for three dollars. At 
the same time it was publicly notified that, for the 
future, any person desiring to obtain ticals from the 
Treasury could do so by depositing an equivalent 
sum in gold with the Government bankers in Lon- 
don, at a rate of exchange to be ascertained on ap- 
plication, and the first transactions effected under 
this arrangement were at the rate of twenty ticals 
to the pound sterling, the quotations of the local 
banks just prior to this having been about 21 J. The 
Government selling rate has since been gradually 
raised by easy stages until, at the present time, it 
stands at seventeen ticals to the pound, with a bank 
rate showing no very marked difference. 

The arrangement here described has, so far, been 
found to work satisfactorily and has been generally 
approved by the banking and mercantile community, 
by reason of the strengthening effect it has already 
had on the currency of the country, and the expec- 



Currency and Banking 145 

tation that when the scheme is thoroughly estab- 
lished the tical will have a practically constant value. 
The importance of the latter consideration from the 
point of view of general trade interests will be readily 
appreciated, while the effect of a tical of higher value 
will be to lower gradually local prices all round and so 
reduce the cost of living to the community at large. 
It may thus be claimed that the important economic 
step taken by the Government for the placing of its 
currency on a gold basis is calculated to further the 
interests of the country generally, besides enhancing 
the credit of the state and the value of the public 
revenues, and that the measures adopted towards 
that end have resulted in a minimum of disturbance 
to the local trade interests. 

METALLIC CURRENCY 

The metallic currency of Siam consists of the 
following coins : 

SILVER 
Name Approximate Weight Fineness 

Tical 234 grains I About 900 parts 

Salung (^ tical) 58.5 " -< pure silver to 

Fuang (^ tical) 29.25 " ( 100 alloy, 

COPPER 

Name Approximate Weight 

Song Phai, or 4-att piece (value ^^ of a tical) 291 grains 

Phai, or 2-att piece (value g'^ of a tical) 175 

Att (value ^ij- of a tical) ' 87 

Solot, or half-att (value y^g of a tical) 43 " 

10 



14^ Kingdom of Siam 

PAPER CURRENCY 

Up to the 19th of September, 1902, the paper 
money circulating in Siam was confined to the issues 
of the three foreign banks having branches in Bang- 
kok, and the notes of these, though not legal tender, 
had been practically accepted as such by the public 
and enjoyed a considerable measure of popularity. 
It appeared expedient to the Government, however, 
to provide for an issue of strictly convertible state 
paper currency, and arrangements were accordingly 
made for the establishment of a separate department 
for this purpose, subordinate to the Ministry of 
Finance, the operations of which commenced on the 
date above mentioned. 

The Government notes are of five values, viz., 
five, ten, twenty, one hundred, and one thousand 
ticals, and the success of the scheme has been most 
marked, as the circulation has risen in a single year 
to over six million ticals, being at the average rate 
of above five hundred thousand ticals a month. 
This result is all the more remarkable in view of the 
fact that the state notes have still to compete to 
some extent with the issues of the banks already re- 
ferred to, and that no attempt whatever has been 
made to force the circulation in any way, the issues 
being made for cash only, even to the Treasury. 



Currency and Banking 147 

The striking success attained in the short time the 
department has been open augurs well for the future, 
and seems to show that the Government notes have 
supplied a real want in the needs of the country. 

The outstandings at the present time are fully 
covered by cash held in the vaults of the paper cur- 
rency department. By law, twenty-five per cent. 
of the coin received for the notes issued may be in- 
vested in such securities as the Minister of Finance 
may select, with the approval of His Majesty, but 
no investments have yet been made. 

BANKING 

Banking establishments are represented in Siam 
by branches of the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Bank- 
ing Corporation, the chartered Bank of India, Aus- 
tralia, and China, and the Banque de ITndo-Chine, 
which commenced business in Bangkok in 1888, 
1893, and 1897, respectively. There are also agencies 
of the Mercantile Bank of India, the National Bank 
of China, Limited, and the International Banking 
Corporation of New York. All these institutions 
are substantial and well-established concerns, with 
branches, agencies, and correspondents in the prm- 
cipal cities of the world, and they are thus in a 



14B Kingdom of Siam 

position to meet all demands made on them for 
purposes of trade and private business. Their 
establishment in Siam has undoubtedly been most 
beneficial to the trade interests of the country, and 
the three first-named institutions also deserve special 
recognition as being the pioneers in the matter of 
popularizing the use of paper money in the capital 
of the kingdom. Much of the success of the Gov- 
ernment issue, of which mention has been made 
above, is unquestionably due to the fact that the 
notes of the private banks had already thoroughly 
established themselves in the confidence of the 
people and had accustomed them for many years to 
the use of this particular form of credit. The Gov- 
ernment paper had consequently no prejudice or 
suspicion to encounter, and was readily taken by 
the public from the first. 

The aggregate volume of business done by the 
banks established in Siam may be gauged to some 
extent by the figures relating to the foreign trade of 
the country, which amounted, in the year ending the 
31st of March, 1903, to a total of 155,531,994 ticals, 
the imports being valued at 69,716,074 ticals, and 
the exports at 85,815,920 ticals. These consider- 
able figures, which show on the total an advance of 
nearly eighteen per cent, on the returns of the pre- 



. Currency and Banking 149 

vious year, indicate the extent to which the assist- 
ance of the banks is invoked in financing the external 
trade of the country; but besides this there is, of 
course, a very large mass of business connected with 
private loans, advances, deposits, and drawing ac- 
counts. Among the latter are those of the Govern- 
ment, which keeps a portion of its cash balance with 
the three institutions mentioned as having branches 
in Bangkok. 

No regular banking facilities are provided for the 
interior of the kingdom, but the Government is 
usually prepared to sell drafts on district treasuries, 
for the convenience of traders and others, at a small 
charge for commission. This privilege is readily 
availed of at times, and may be regarded as the 
germ of one phase of the functions of the future 
National Bank of Siam. There can be little doubt 
that an institution such as this would be of the 
greatest convenience and utility both to the Govern- 
ment and the country at large, and it is hoped that 
it may be possible before long to give practical 
effect to the idea. 



CHAPTER XI 

AGRICULTURE 



151 




CHAPTER XI 



AGRICULTURE IN SIAM, BY W. A. GRAHAM, ESQ., 

FORMERLY ASSISTANT TO THE MINISTER 

OF AGRICULTURE 

THE Siamese are, before all things, an agricultu- 
ral nation. From time immemorial, the valley 
of the Menam has been one vast rice-field, and the 
present inhabitants of the country continue to 
plough, sow, and reap in it after the same methods, 
and with the same kind of implements, as were em- 
ployed by their predecessors a thousand years ago. 
The Siamese man docs not take kindly to most 
forms of labor, and is quite content to see such 
trades and manufactures as there are in his country 
in the hands of Chinese and other foreigners. The 
pursuit of agriculture, however, he reserves to him- 
self, and, while nine tenths of the people of the 
country follow the calling, it is very rarely that for- 
eigners are found taking an active part in any form 
of agriculture except market-gardening. 

153 



154 Kingdom of Siam 

The principal product of the country is rice. In- 
deed, so much is this the case, that thus baldly to 
state the fact is to convey but a feeble and inade- 
quate impression of the supreme position of this 
cereal in the land. It might almost be said that rice 
is the only agricultural product, for though Siam 
exports timber and grows maize, millet, sugar, to- 
bacco, and fruit, yet her rice production preponder- 
ates so entirely, and her commerce, politics, and 
social conditions are now, and have always been, so 
profoundly influenced by rice, that all these lesser 
products amount, by comparison, almost to noth- 
ing. The European, whose idea of a staple food is 
formed from a knowledge of the part played in the 
economy of his own country, can only vaguely 
imagine the importance of rice to the Siamese. It 
constitutes not merely the principal, but almost 
the sole food of every one, from the highest noble 
to the lowliest plebeian : horses, cattle, dogs, cats, 
and all other domestic animals live on it ; it is used 
for making beer and spirits ; it enters largely into all 
ceremonials, and the superstitious observances in 
connection with it provide the people with their 
most frequent occasions for holiday-making. The 
only recognized means of investing money is, or was 
until the recent introduction of European banking, 




> 
z 

o 

tA 

u 



Aofriculture 155 



^^5 



the purchase of rice-fields ; the nobility is graded 
according to the (now purely nominal) grants of 
rice-land conferred by the king; dealings in rice and 
the ownership of rice-land are the causes of most of 
the civil litigation in the law courts, and the result 
of the last, or prospects of the next, rice harvest, 
make the most absorbing topic of conversation at 
all times. It is rice which forms the cargoes of the 
thousands of boats ever passing up and down the 
river Menam ; which supplies the grist of the numer- 
ous mills of modern Bangkok (the furnaces of which 
are fed with rice-husk), and which is carried away in 
the ocean-going steamers always to be seen loading 
in the port ; finally it is from rice that the Govern- 
ment derives, directly, almost the whole of its 
revenue. 

Every step in the process of rice cultivation de- 
mands, in common with most of the ordinary occur- 
rences of Siamese life, the observance of more or 
less elaborate religious ceremonial, for no one living 
in a country where the innumerable spirits of earth, 
air, and water take such a lively interest in the 
affairs of mankind as they do in Siam, would be at 
all wise in undertaking any matter, as to the issue 
of which he might be anxious, without due pro- 
pitiations made beforehand. Besides these private 



15^ Kingdom of Siam 

ceremonies which affect the individual only, there 
are also others of a public nature, directly concern- 
ing the entire community, and regarded as of the 
utmost importance in determining the nature of the 
harvest. The chief of these are the "Loh Chin 
Cha," or Swinging Festival, and the"Raak Na," 
or First Ploughing; ceremonies probably of Brah- 
minical origin, the latter, and diverse forms of the 
former, being practised in all the countries of Indo- 
China and mentioned in various Brahmin histories 
and traditions. From the incidents during the per- 
formance of these ceremonies, which are watched 
with anxiety by enormous crowds of the people, the 
soothsayers are enabled to foretell the amount of 
success which will attend the agricultural operations 
of the coming season. 

Rice is grown in the plains after two different 
methods, the one by sowing the seed broadcast on 
the land where it is to grow, and the other by caus- 
ing it to sprout first in small patches or nurseries 
of specially prepared ground and afterwards trans- 
planting it into the fields. The first is the older 
system, the adaptation, in fact, of the ancient 
rude hill-cultivation to the plains, and for this the 
local rainfall is the only water-supply required, 
while for the second the collection of water with 



»»*■ 



:P- '•*mr7^- 




w 
u 

o 

2 
2 



Agriculture i57 

which the land can be irrigated from time to time is 
necessary. For the first method, or " Na Wan " 
(N'ay a rice-field, and Wan, to sow), also called "Na 
Muang, " the land is ploughed as soon as the rain 
has moistened the soil sufficiently for the plough to 
break it up, usually in the month of June. Soon 
after, the ground is again gone over with the harrow, 
being thereby completely broken up and denuded 
of grass and weeds, after which the seed is sown 
upon it. The crop is then left to grow and usually 
receives enough moisture from the rain to enable it 
to come to maturity without further attention. For 
the second method, or ''Na Dum" {Na, a rice-field, 
and Duni, to dive into, hence to plant with the hand 
in the soft, yielding mud), also called "Na Suan," 
the ploughing is as for Na Wan, but the harrowing 
is not done until sufficient water has collected on 
the field, either from rainfall or by irrigation, to 
entirely cover the soil. It is then churned into a 
porridgy mass and the weeds and grass removed by 
the harrow. In the meantime the rice has been 
sprouting in the nursery, the manured soil of which 
causes rapid germination, and the young plants are 
now taken up and planted out. The "Na Dum " 
method, common to all rice-growing countries of 
the East, is much more intricate than the "Na 



158 Kingdom of Siam 

Wan," but is also much more productive, and 
whenever a supply of water becomes available by- 
irrigation or from excessive rain the latter gives 
place to the former. 

The practice of "Na Dum" is an art. The seed- 
lings, when the fields are ready for them, are taken 
from the nurseries in bundles of a hundred or so and 
neatly tied together, the mud being shaken from 
their roots by a deft kick administered to the bundle 
at the moment of drawing it from the soil. This 
work falls to the men and the planting usually to 
the women, and as skill in planting vastly enhances 
a girl's chances in the marriage market, so a young 
man who should hand to the women, to plant, 
bundles clumsily tied or with muddy roots would 
stand small chance of getting a bride in his own 
village. 

Buffaloes are used for ploughing in the lower 
plains, where the atmosphere is humid, but the 
buffalo, in spite of his great strength, is useless in a 
hot, dry climate, and therefore, in the higher and 
drier parts, bullocks are used, a pair of these doing 
the work of one buffalo. 

While the paddy, as it is called until the grain is 
husked, is growing, it demands no labor, and until 
it is reaped nothing is done beyond a little spas- 




u 

2 



Agriculture 159 

modic bird-scaring by the children. With the 
reaping time all are busy again : the crop is cut 
with small sickles loaded on sleds and drawn to the 
winnowing-ground, a small spot either in the fields 
or near the village, on which the earth is beaten 
down hard and smooth. There, after the spirits have 
been duly propitiated, the sheaves are strewn out 
and are trampled upon by the cattle until the grain 
is all detached from the straw. Winnowing then 
takes place, after which the golden yellow grain is 
stored in specially constructed huts and the year's 
work is over. 

Though there are many large estates in the neigh- 
borhood of Bangkok, the property of the royal 
family and nobility, the greater part of the land is 
held in small farms by peasant proprietors, having 
full hereditary rights subject only to the will of the 
king, in whom, finally, all rights are vested in ac- 
cordance with ancient custom. Each man ploughs 
his own land, but the planting and reaping is usually 
done with the aid of his neighbors, the whole village 
turning out and working together on each owner's 
fields in turn. This labor in common is the occa- 
sion for much merry-making, the young men and 
maidens, glad of the chance of meeting, planting 
or reaping all day amid bouts of repartee and bursts 



i6o Kingdom of Siam 

of laughter, finishing up with a hearty feed at the 
expense of the owner of the fields, followed by rude 
music and further badinage. In the lower plains, 
however, where the farmer is beginning to under- 
stand the profit to be derived from increase of pro- 
duction, this happy-go-lucky custom is falling into 
disuse, the merry amateurs being replaced by hard- 
working farm hands engaged at a wage for the 
season. 

Two crops of rice are habitually raised each year 
in the plains of Siam, the first called "Kao Bao," 
or light crop, and the second, "Kao Nak," or heavy 
crop. The "Kao Bao" is planted on irrigated land 
before the appearance of the rains in the plains, 
often as early as February, and is reaped in May or 
June. The "Kao Nak," is planted between July 
and September, and is reaped in December or Jan- 
uary. The "Kao Bao" crop in no case amounts to 
a very large quantity of rice. 

The inhabitants of the hilly parts of Siam culti- 
vate a variety of rice different from that grown in 
the plains, following the method common to the 
hill-tribes of India, Burmah, China, and other rice- 
growing countries of the East. This is the old, 
original, primitive form of agriculture, the first 
probably practised by prehistoric man, consisting of 



Agriculture i6i 

merely clearing a patch of jungle by cutting and 
burning, making holes with a sharp stick in the 
ground thus exposed, and therein inserting grains 
of rice. 

The varieties of rice cultivated in Siam after the 
above methods number more than forty, many of 
which, however, resemble each other so closely as 
to be scarcely worth special notice. Others present 
highly distinctive qualities either in size, color, or 
flavor of the grain (such as glutinous rice, red rice, 
and the small, round-grained hill rice), or in the 
nature of the plant itself. There can be no doubt 
that some of the latter varieties have been evolved 
from the peculiar conditions under which they have, 
during succeeding centuries, been cultivated. Thus 
a variety of common rice, grown on land which is 
subject to high floods, has the almost miraculous 
faculty of growing with more or less speed (at times 
as much as a foot in twelve hours) according as the 
water rises, the plant often reaching as much as ten 
feet in length in its efforts to keep its leaves above 
water. This variety, now a thoroughly established 
one in Siam, is unknown in Burmah, Java, or India. 

That the amount of rice produced in Siam has in- 
creased enormously of late years is evidenced by a 
glance at the customs figures, which show that the 



i62 Kingdom of Siam 

amount of rice annually exported has risen from 
217,000 tons in 1885, to close on 800,000 tons last 
year. Nevertheless, it is now fully realized that the 
production of the country is still very far short of 
what it might be, were the question of irrigation 
properly taken up and all available land brought 
under cultivation. 

Though the whole valley of the Menam is inter- 
sected by innumerable canals, many of which are of 
ancient construction, in the absence of water-control 
these are useful only as a means of communication ; 
and irrigation, except in one small district north of 
Bangkok, is almost non-existent. Various uncouth 
and primitive implements are used by the farmers 
for raising water on to their fields, implements quite 
powerless to avert total loss of crop should water be 
scarce, but irrigation by raising the general water- 
level above that of the land, though there is a reason 
to believe it was once practised, is a lost art. The 
Government is now considering the execution of a 
great irrigation scheme which, if ever completed, 
will revolutionize agriculture in Siam and inevitably 
place her in the van of the rice-producing countries 
of the world. 

Other agricultural products of Siam are maize, 
millet, tobacco, cotton, sesamum, sugar, betel-nut, 



Agriculture 163 

betel-leaf, pepper, cocoanut, yams, beans, gourds 
of different kinds, and a large variety of fruits. 

Maize and millet are grown in small plots in the 
plains and in fields on the higher lands. As they 
do not require much water, two crops can often be 
raised in a year, but the amount grown is small and 
is not increasing. 

Tobacco is grown in considerable quantities in 
several districts, though not in the lower plains. In 
some localities it is cultivated in the rice-fields during 
the dry weather, but the best crops are raised on the 
light, rich, alluvial soil near the banks of the upper 
reaches of the Menam. The production is not quite 
equal to the amount consumed in the country, and 
a certain quantity is imported from China. The 
methods of cultivation are rough. The seed is sown 
on ground prepared by ploughing and hoeing, and 
the young plants are thinned and occasionally 
weeded as they grow up. Little care is taken to 
ward off the attacks of insects, with the result that 
much of the crop is often lost, while that which is 
reaped frequently consists of diseased, stunted 
plants. Notwithstanding this bad treatment, how- 
ever, and the very primitive methods of drying and 
curing the leaf, the tobacco grown in some districts, 
notably Pitsanuloke and Ratburi, is of a superior 



164 Kingdom of Siam 

quality, and there is little doubt that with proper 
care the tobacco of Siam could at least compete 
with that of Burmah, India, or Java. At present 
none is exported, but were a foreign market to be 
found, it is probable that tobacco-growing would 
extend rapidly. 

Cotton has been cultivated in Siam from time im- 
memorial, all tradition as to when and by whom it 
was introduced having long been lost. It is proba- 
ble that the plant was first introduced from India, 
where it is known to have been used at least 2500 
years ago, the earliest record of cotton in China 
being some centuries later. Several varieties of the 
species Gossypiitm herbaceuin are known, and it is 
believed that Gossypitun hirsittiun is also found in 
Siam, though this species is otherwise confined to 
the American continent. Cultivation is carried on 
chiefly in the north, but is apparently declining 
owing to the increasing facilities for obtaining for- 
eign cotton goods. There is, however, every reason 
to suppose that cotton could be successfully culti- 
vated in all parts of the country and, given sufficient 
incentive to development, might become one of the 
chief agricultural products of Siam. The plant, 
which is treated as an annual in most countries, is 
here often allowed to remain in the ground for two 




H 
(4 
< 

a 

Q 

<: 
> 



Agriculture 165 

or even three years, bearing crops of diminishing 
value twice each year and growing into a straggling, 
woody shrub from six to eight feet high. This 
treatment is prompted by the laziness of the culti- 
vators, laziness which, however, brings its own pun- 
ishment, as the roots of the cotton, after three years* 
growth, are plunged very deep in the earth and can 
only be removed by extensive digging operations. 
The cotton produced in Siam is nearly all dressed, 
spun, and woven into cloth locally, but a small 
quantity of the raw article is exported overland into 
China and Burmah. 

Sesamum is grown sometimes in the rice-fields 
before the rice season and sometimes on high land. 
It is easy of cultivation, and usually commands a 
good price, but it is not much grown in the lower 
plains. Sesamum is cultivated for the oil contained 
in the seed, which is extracted by means of rough 
wooden presses worked by hand or by bullock 
power. The residue, after the oil has been ex- 
tracted, is also used for feeding cattle and as a 
manure.- The oil itself is used locally for cooking, 
and a certain amount of the unpressed seed is an- 
nually available for export (about four thousand 
tons). It is probable that, with a little judicious 
encouragement, the cultivation of sesamum might 



i66 Kingdom of Siam 

be greatly increased, as, the crop ripening in the 
month of May, it could be largely cultivated by 
diligent husbandmen without in any way interfering 
with rice-growing operations. 

Sugar. — In the early part of the last century 
sugar was very extensively grown in and exported 
from Siam, and Sir John Bowring, when he visited 
the country in 1855, predicted that this would soon 
become its chief agricultural product. His con- 
jectures have not, however, become facts, for, in 
common with other cane-sugar centres, Siam has 
been defeated by beet. Sugar is not now exported 
at all, in fact it is largely imported, while sugar-cane 
continues to be grown only for use as molasses and 
for the manufacture of coarse, unrefined sugar used 
for home consumption. A good deal of jaggery 
sugar is extracted from the palmyra and cocoanut 
palm-trees, but as the trees grow chiefly on waste 
ground and receive no attention from the cultivator, 
this can scarcely be considered as an agricultural 
product. 

Betel-nut is grown all over the country, but not, 
except in the Siamese Malay States, in sufificient 
quantities to supply the enormous demand which 
the chewing proclivities of the Siamese create. 
The betel-nut palm is grown in gardens, of which 







o 
<: 






Agriculture 167 

a great number exist in the suburbs of Bangkok. 
Once planted in a moist situation it requires abso- 
lutely no care, and though it is possible that by 
selection and manuring the fruit might be im- 
proved the Siamese cultivator has never thought it 
worth while to take any trouble with it. 

Betel-leaf is a vine and is grown in plantations. 
It is cultivated round almost every village in the 
country, and so great is the consumption of it in 
Bangkok that one of the large markets there is de- 
voted entirely to its sale. The vine requires a good 
deal of water, and the ground on which it grows must 
be manured and frequently weeded. The leaves are 
fit for use when the vine is a year old and, from that 
time on, are picked as quickly as they grow, until 
the vine is about five years old, when the leaves be- 
come too small and strong-flavored to be of value, 
and the plant is taken up and replaced by a young 
one. Betel-leaf is one of the few agricultural pro- 
ducts the cultivation of which employs a consider- 
able amount of Chinese labor, the others being 
pepper, fruit, and vegetables. 

Pepper is grown in some quantity in the southern- 
most parts of Siam. At one time the production 
was greater than it is now, and in the seventeenth 
century the monopoly of trading in it was a bone of 



i68 Kingdom of Siam 

much contention between the European merchants 
trading with the country. At that time the output 
was probably more than three thousand tons a year. 
Now it is much less, the market during the last few 
years having been so uncertain as almost to destroy 
the industry. Pepper grows as a vine and is trained 
upon poles, usually in small garden plots near the 
villages. It has a large, handsome green leaf. 
The seed, when dried and husked, consist of small, 
round berries. They are mostly smooth and hard, 
but about one third of the produce of each vine does 
not come properly to maturity, it shrivelling up, 
is separated from the good seed, and sold as in- 
ferior, or black pepper. 

Cocoaniit was, at one time, largely grown round 
Bangkok and farther inland, but within the last few 
years the ravages of the cocoanut beetle have been 
so terrible that the cocoanut palm has almost disap- 
peared from there. Cocoanuts are now imported in 
great numbers, the cocoanut tree tax has been re- 
moved from the revenue schedules, and the country 
has apparently acquiesced in the defeat inflicted 
upon it by the beetle. Yet a reasonable amount of 
care and forethought is all that was ever required to 
overcome the insect pest, and even now there is no 
reason why cocoanut should be any more difficult 



Agriculture 169 

to grow in Upper Siam than it is in the Malay States. 
On the coast of the gulf, and inland in the Siamese 
Malay States, the cocoanut palm grows magnifi- 
cently, and not less than ten thousand tons of 
copra, reported the finest in the world, are annually 
exported thence to Singapore. The cocoanut, like 
the betel-nut, demands no care except that the soil 
in its neighborhood be kept clean and open, and that 
a strict watch be kept for signs of beetle. After the 
trees become big, weeds cease to grow at their feet, 
and the happy cultivator then has nothing more 
to do than to gather his nuts, of which an average 
tree produces over one hundred in a year. The 
Malay, who is no more inclined to work than most 
people, has discovered the superior advantages of 
cocoanut-growing and, at the present moment, land 
is being converted, throughout the Malay States, 
from rice-land into cocoanut plantations. 

The remaining vegetable products of the soil of 
Siam may be classed rather as horticultural than as 
agricultural produce. Of yams, beans, and gourds 
many different kinds are cultivated, but always in 
small quantities and for local consumption merely, 
and the same may be said of the various fruits, 
fibres, dyes, etc. 

There has, for a very long time, been a Ministry 



I70 Kingdom of Siam 

of Agriculture in Siam, but unfortunately in the 
past few steps have been taken by it to improve or 
encourage the agriculture of the country. Enough 
has been said to show that there is abundant room 
for such improvement and encouragement, and it is 
fervently hoped that the scientific agricultural ex- 
periment laboratory which has recently been or- 
ganized under the Ministry, will place in the hands 
of the Government the means to give that assistance 
to the agriculturists of the country which alone can 
enable Siam to keep a place in the keenly contested 
produce-markets of the world. 



CHAPTER XII 
FORESTRY 



171 



CHAPTER XII 

FORESTRY IN SIAM, BY THE CONSERVATOR OF 

FORESTS 



AT present by far the most valuable tree in Siam 
is the teak. The forests in which this species 
occurs are situated in the dry regions of the Mon- 
thon Payupp, and those parts of the Monthons 
Nakon Sawan and Pitsanuloke which lie north of lati- 
tude 17°, the average annual rainfall being probably 
under fifty inches. These regions, which are hilly 
throughout, are drained by the Salween on the west, 
and the Mekong on the east, while the numerous 
feeders of the Menam water the whole of the cen- 
tral portion, all affording the waterways by which 
the timber is floated out. 

Where conditions are suitable teak occurs in de- 
ciduous forests up to 2500 feet elevation, mixed with 
many other species, of which the following are some 
of the most important : 

Xylia dolabri/ormis, Eugenia jambolanay Bombax 

173 



174 Kingdom of Siam 

insignia^ Sterculia {various), Pteros pernuin semisa- 
gittattiiHy Garuga pinnata, Bursera serrata, Semecar- 
pus panduratus, Spondias magnifera, Terminalia 
tomentella, Termiiialia cremilata^ Terminalia be- 
lerica, Anogeissus acumiitatus, Lagerstrcemia flos 
regiita, Lagerstrcemia tomentosa, Homalium tomen- 
tosum, Cordia grandis, Cassia Siamea, Odinawodier, 
etc., etc. 

Prior to the year 1896, although teak had been 
worked very extensively in the Menam and Salween 
basins, practically no attempts had been made to 
control these workings. It is true that such work 
was supposed to be restricted to forests for which 
leases had been granted by the Government, and the 
forms of lease then in use contained certain con- 
ditions as to minimum girth, etc., which, although 
inadequate, were apparently at the time considered 
a sufficient safeguard for the future of the forests, 
but as no Government official was directly responsi- 
ble, not only were the conditions of leases not en- 
forced, but very many unleased forests were worked 
under the authority of the local officials. 

Forestry in Siam (if President Roosevelt's defini- 
tion is to be accepted) may be said to have com- 
menced only in 1896-97, when the Government 
secured the services of an officer of the Imperial 




C5 
O 



Q 
<^ 

O 
h-1 



Forestry 1 75 

Forest Service of exceptional abilities on deputation 
from the Government of India. 

This officer at once directed his attention to the 
teak forests, and acting under his advice the follow- 
ing measures were taken to protect the very valuable 
properties of the Government. 

(i) A Forest Department was established with an 
European staff of officers, recruited as far as possible 
from the Imperial and Provincial Forest Services of 
India and Burmah, not the least important of whose 
duties being the training of selected Siamese youths 
with a view to their filling responsible positions in 
the department in the future. 

(2) The promulgation of various royal decrees by 
His Majesty, providing for the better protection and 
control of the forests, and absolutely prohibiting 
any work except under a lease. 

(3) The inspection and survey of all leased forests 
by Forest Officers with a view to ascertaining the 
future possibilities of the forests and also further 
periodical inspections to ensure strict observance of 
conditions of leases. 

(4) The training of selected Siamese at the Indian 
Forest School at Dehra Dun. 

In 1897, with the consent of the lessees a new 
form of lease was substituted for that under which 



1/6 Kingdom of Siam 

they had hitherto worked, the conditions of this 
lease embodying the more important restrictions 
necessary for the future welfare of the forests, 
among which may be mentioned the raising of 
the minimum girth from fifty-one inches to 76^/2 
inches. 

In 1900-01 most of the old leases expired and a 
further new form of lease was brought into force for 
such forests as Government decided should still be 
worked. This form provided for the closing of one 
half of the original areas and prohibited any further 
girdling by lessees. 

The royalty was also raised from 4.25 Rs. a log 
to 10 Rs. per large and 6 Rs. per small log. 

A short account of the system under which teak 
is worked may be of interest. The trees selected 
are first killed (girdled) by cutting a ring round the 
tree near the ground, well into the heart-wood. 

They are then left standing for two years at least 
to season, when they are felled, logged, and dragged 
usually by elephants, into the nearest floating 
streams. Parties of elephants are also kept working 
the main streams to break up stacks and keep the 
timber moving. 

Across the flat country carts are now being largely 
introduced, dragged by buffaloes, as such work can 




C5 
Z 

3 
O 
O 



Forestry 177 

be done in the hot weather when elephants cannot 
be used. 

Various mechanical contrivances have also been 
introduced by the Borneo Company, Limited, and 
the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, Limited, 
with wire ropes to drag the logs over hills which are 
too steep for elephants. 

Owing to the many rapids on the Me Ping, Me 
Yome, Me Wang, and Me Nam, logs are floated 
singly until arrival at Raheng, Sawankaloke, or 
Utradit, when they are made into rafts varying in 
shape and number of logs according to the river, 
and thus conveyed to the duty station at Paknampo, 
where they are examined, measured, and duty due 
collected by a Forest Department establishment be- 
fore proceeding to Bangkok. The average annual 
arrivals at Paknampo amount to some one hundred 
thousand logs. 

Salween timber is floated singly to Kyodan, a 
rafting station some seventy miles north of Moul- 
mein, then rafted to Kado, where the Government 
inspection and collection of duties is carried out 
before passing to Moulmein. 

Average annual arrivals from Siam at Kado 
amount to some sixty thousand logs. 

As regards the other valuable species of timber 



178 Kingdom of Siam 

trees in the north, these at present cannot be 
worked north of Raheng, Sawankaloke, or Utradit, 
as, being heavy woods, they require to be floated 
lashed to bamboos, and too large a percentage 
would be wrecked in the rapids to make it a paying 
business. A railway to Chiengmai is, however, under 
course of construction which when completed will 
tap a very large area of practically virgin forest, so 
far as these species are concerned. 

Whereas teak, the most valuable tree in Siam, 

and the most largely exported, is confined almost 

entirely to the hilly tracts in Northern 

Forestry in -^ -^ 

Siam. Siam, it must not be supposed that Lower 

Siam contains no valuable forests ; far from it. 
Although at the present time little is done to foster 
forestry operations in the south, the Government 
being fully occupied in looking after its teak forests 
in the north, the time is not so far distant when the 
forests of the Malay Peninsula and Lower Siam \v\\\ 
constitute one more of the many valuable natural 
assets of the country. The areas of these forests are 
very extensive. On the east they extend from the 
borders of the Krung Kao Monthon all along the 
Korat Railwa}^ to a short distance beyond Buriram 
at the eastern extremity of Monthon Nakon Racha- 
sima. This same block extends south into Monthon 



Forestry 1 79 

Pachin. On the southeast a great belt of forest 
extends through the coast districts of Chantaburi 
and Pachin, while on the southwest the peninsular 
districts of Singora, Tringanu, Kedah, are one 
compact mass of dense forests. 

The question that naturally arises in regard to 
such extensive forests is, Of what value are they to 
the Government or to any one else? Though their 
value is to a certain extent still a matter for the 
future to decide, it must not be supposed that 
nothing has yet been done to prove the existence 
of many valuable woods in them. 

The first we may mention and at present the most 
valuable is the well-known rosewood (Siamese, 
Mai Pa Yung) Dalbergia (sp.). This extends in 
suitable localities throughout the forest area of Na- 
kon Rachasima and Pachin, and owing to the facil- 
ities of transport afforded by the Korat Railway 
considerable quantities are exported yearly to Bang- 
kok and find their way to Hong-Kong and Singa- 
pore and even to London, where it is in demand as 
a furniture wood. 

Other very useful woods are largely exploited 
from this area, such as Dipterocarpus tiibulatus, 
Shorea obttisa, and Pcntaccine siainensis (Siamese 
Mai Teng-La7ig)\ they are used in Bangkok as 



I So Kingdom of Siam 



posts for buildings, but more especially for the rail- 
way, the sleepers for which, as well as the wood for 
bridge construction, having been from the very com- 
mencement supplied entirely from the last two spe- 
cies, to which uses they are admirably suited. 

In spite of such a great demand there are still 
enormous tracts of these woods which have never 
yet been touched by the axe. 

In addition to the above may be mentioned Ptero- 
carpiis indiciis {Mai Pradod), a valuable furniture 
wood, supplies of which are only awaiting better 
means of communication and transport to be worked. 

Turning to the woods of the peninsular districts 
we find along the coasts of Petchaburi and Cham- 
pawn a kind of boxwood {Mai Put), much sought 
after by Japanese traders, who export it for use in 
wood-carving. 

These are but a few of the many valuable woods, 
which as time goes on will no doubt be found in the 
as yet almost unexplored forest of the peninsula. 
Already foreign firms, who have recognized the 
value of these forests, are applying for concessions 
to work them, and when, in addition to the woods 
mentioned, the many other species useful for boat- 
building, house construction, and other local require- 
ments, such as Xylia dolabriformis {Mai Deng), 



Forestry 



[8i 



Hopea odorata {Mai Takieii), Lager stroemia jlos 
regina {Mai Tabak), ScJilcichcra trijitga {Mai Mak- 
raw)^ Naiiclea cordifolia {Mai Kzvozv), and a host of 
others are considered, the value of these forests to 
Siam can hardly be overestimated. 




CHAPTER XIII 

JUSTICE 



183 




CHAPTER XIII 



JUSTICE, BY THE JUDICIAL ADVISER 



THE Ministry of Justice is quite a recent creation, 
as previous to the year 1892 there were as many 
jurisdictions as departments, and each de- 
partment frequently tried cases concern- o^'^^y^*^"^- 
ing themselves either as defendants or plaintiffs. 
There were restrictions on their arbitrary powers, 
but these restrictions were often overridden by a 
powerful head of a department. The board in 
whose hands the decision of an appeal was sup- 
posed to lie were not strong enough to enforce 
any judgment affecting the department of a strong 
minister or against an influential nobleman. Be- 
sides the courts there existed what might be called 
the germ of a Ministry of Justice in the board named 
Lukkhun. This board dealt with cases which were 
not directly concerned with the departments and 
with any appeals which the departments were pleased 
to send to them. But they had no real power. 

185 



i86 Kingdom of Siam 

The work of deciding cases was divided amongst 
different sets of officials. The actual recording of 
evidence was done by the Talakarn (or judges); the 
guilt or responsibility of the parties was decided on 
the records by the Lukkhun. The Pooprap, or 
officials, who were supposed to know the law, fixed 
the punishment or amount of judgment. 

All judicial officials received only nominal salaries, 
and it can be well understood that chaos reigned 
supreme, and that justice was only likely to be done 
when money and influence were on the side of the 
plaintiff. 

In the provinces the executive officers acted as 
judges, and could do pretty well as they pleased. 

In 1892 the Ministry of Justice was established, 
and all the judicial functions of the various depart- 
ments, with the exception of the military 

New System. 

and naval courts and the palace court, 
were consolidated under the control of a Minister 
of Justice. This change was confined to Bangkok 
at first, but in 1895 all the central provinces were 
brought under the same control. The outlying 
provinces of Petchaboon, Udawn, Isarn, and parts 
of the Malay States still remain as before, but ap- 
peal from the courts in these districts are now for- 
warded to the Appeal Court at Bangkok. It is 



Justice 187 

intended to incorporate the whole of the interior 
gradually, as time and money will permit. 

At present every province is divided into Muangs 
with a District Court {San Muang) capable of trying 
cases up to five thousand ticals in value 

Courts. 

and criminal cases involving punishment 
not exceeding ten years' imprisonment. An appeal 
lies to the Circle Court {San MontJioii), established 
in the capital of each province. This court is 
capable of dealing with every kind of case, both civil 
and criminal, and the cases from the District Court 
and those entered originally in the Circle Court are 
subject to appeal to Bangkok. The Bangkok Ap- 
peal Court is in two divisions, one of five judges 
dealing with appeals from the provinces, and one of 
three dealing with appeals from Bangkok and from 
the provinces not yet incorporated under this 
ministry. 

A final appeal lies to His Majesty the King, who 
has delegated his duties to the tribunal composed of 
five members commissioned under the Royal Sign 
Manual. This tribunal may be termed the Supreme 
Court of Appeal {Sa7i Dika). 

The procedure, both civil and criminal, was pro- 
mulgated in 1896. It was based on the procedure 
then in force in the British Consular Court at Bang- 



1 88 Kingdom of Siam 

kok, and is essentially English in form. In the crim- 
inal procedure it is noteworthy that the accused 
generally makes his statement as soon as 

Procedure. . 

the charge is read over to him, and the 
statement taken at that stage of the proceedings 
helps immensely to have the truth brought to light, 
as the accused generally proffers a complete narra- 
tive of all that happened from his point of view, 
and, if guilty, he frequently incriminates himself. 

The law is, of course, Siamese, and, thanks to 
the labors of H. R. H. Prince Rajburi, the present 

Minister of Justice, it can be consulted 

Law. 

in a handy and convenient form. He 
brought out an edition of the ancient laws in two 
volumes with footnotes and a full index show- 
ing which sections have been modified or repealed, 
and has also edited recent enactments up to the 
year 1901. The principal decisions of the Supreme 
Court of Appeal since the year 1899 have also been 
published under his superintendence. These form 
the law reports of Siam. The student of Siamese 
law can thus easily ascertain all the written law on 
any subject, and has a fair amount of judge-made 
law for his guidance in addition to lectures delivered 
in the law school by the minister and other Siamese 
judges on special branches of law. 



Justice 189 

The ancient laws of Siam are fortunately worded 
in very wide terms, and are elastic enough, with the 
exercise of a little ingenuity, to meet nearly all the 
requirements of modern conditions in this country. 
In civil cases where the law is silent new paths can 
always be struck out, but in criminal cases this is 
not quite so feasible. The importation of brand- 
new codes would doubtless make the work of the 
judges easier, but the advantages of working on a 
system known to the people for centuries are obvi- 
ous. As substantial justice can always be meted 
out if the judges display ordinary intelligence and 
impartiality, the changes of the future are likely to 
be confined to the gradual amendment of the present 
groundwork. 

One of the most striking features of the judicial 
system of this country is the facility and cheapness 
of appeal, and the systematic way in 

1 . , . . , r 1 1- • Appeals. 

which it IS made use of by most litigants. 
When this department was first established the 
minister rightly considered that as most of the 
judges were new and untried men and generally 
youthful, appeal should be made as easy as possible. 
Appeal by post from the provinces is the result. 
It costs only two and a half per cent, on the 
amount involved, and in criminal cases nothing at 



igo Kingdom of Siam 

all. It is not necessary to appear personally before 
the Appeal Court nor to engage counsel. The con- 
sequence is that the Appeal Courts are overwhelmed 
with work. Last year the two divisions of the Ap- 
peal Court disposed of 3100 cases, of which 414 were 
arrears from the previous year. Of these appeals 
1 175 were sent up to the Supreme Court of Appeal. 

One of the most important institutions under the 
Ministry is the law school. This is only in its in- 
^^^ fancy yet, but on the attention and money 

School. spent on the training of the future judges 

depends to a great extent the successful administra- 
tion of justice. 

The first object that has been steadily kept in 
view in regard to judicial appointments has been to 
eliminate those of the old-fashioned officials whose 
ideas as to progress, punctuality, and rapidity of 
work are not abreast with the times. The result is 
that already a large proportion of the ju^dges are 
young men. 

The law school was started in 1897, and the aver- 
age number of students has been annually increas- 
ing. The number on the books last year was 375, 
and the previous year 292, so that it is evident that 
the judicial career and practice in the Siamese courts 
is becoming more attractive. The present lecturer 



Justice 191 

is the judge of the Court of Foreign Causes, and as 
his court is by no means a busy one, he can give the 
best part of his time to the school. He is an old 
student and received his final education in England. 

The examination, which this year was conducted 
under the supervision of H. R. H. the Minister of 
Justice, the Under Secretary, and two other exam- 
iners, is pretty stiff. The papers, in fact, bear a 
marked resemblance to ordinary bar examination 
papers in England, turned into Siamese with, it 
must be said, additional puzzles peculiar to Siamese 
law. The number of students who succeed in pass- 
ing this examination is in very small proportion to 
the number going up. Since 1897 only fifty-four 
candidates have received the title of Advocate, or 
an average of nine per cent. 

Provision has been made for the training in 
Europe of three of the best students who know a 
foreign language. There they remain three or four 
years, receiving first general education and latterly 
tuition in law. 

The sum allowed this year for the total adminis- 
tration of justice in Siam (exclusive of the out- 
lying districts already mentioned) was 

1 11 1 . staff. 

1,204,194 ticals or, roughly speakmg, 

about ii"6o,cxx). This includes all expenditure on 



192 Kingdom of Siam 

the law school, new buildings, repairs, etc. It 
seems at first sight a very inadequate sum with 
which to run a department of this size. The whole 
estimate would, in fact, only provide salaries for a 
dozen judges in England or India, but it does not 
bear a very unfair proportion to the general revenue 
of the country, which is only 40,000,000 ticals, or 
say ;^2, 000,000. In any case no matter how neces- 
sary a larger sum may be, it could not be obtained 
without great difificulty. 

There were on the list of the stafT at the end of 
this year 168 judges, of whom 41 are stationed in 
Bangkok province, and 773 other of^cials, or a total 
of 941 on the pay-sheet of this Ministry. 

The of^cials in the Ministry itself, or the controll- 
ing branch, number fifty-two. It is satisfactory to be 
able to note that the judges receive very fair pay. 
They begin at 240 ticals a month (say ^150 a year) 
and rise to 800 ticals a month (^^500 a year). The 
executive branch of the Government service is, how- 
ever, better paid than the judicial; the position is 
more honorable and the work entails less drudgery. 
A judge in Siam has in the past been looked upon 
as a very subordinate kind of official, and he is just 
now beginning to lose the stigma of belonging to an 
inferior service. The best men in this country are 



Justice 193 

attracted to the Ministry of the Interior or the 
executive. 

There is provision in the estimates for eight assist- 
ant legal advisers, but at present the staff is reduced 
to three, one of whom is on leave. The 

Assistant 

assistant legal advisers have, with the Legal 

. , Advisers. 

exception of one Japanese, who is a 
graduate of Yale University, been drawn from 
Belgium. 

The Minister of Justice has issued at various times 
instructions to judges which have been collected 
and form a small volume of about fifty instructions 
pages. They explain in a clear and defi- *°-'" ^"' 
nite way many points which have proved a source 
of doubt to the judges, and also lay down regula- 
tions for the carrying out of details of court work. 

The Bangkok prisons only are under the control 
of the Ministry of Justice. The Central Prison 
contains an average of 1500 prisoners and 

.... Prisons. 

the short-sentence and under-trial prison 

about 600. The total cost of these two prisons last 

year was 230,850 ticals, or say ^11,500. 

The provincial prisons are under the control of 
the Ministry of the Interior. 

The penalty of death is carried out by beheading, 

and during the year twelve criminals were executed. 
13 



194 Kino^dom of Siam 



^5 



One died before the death penalty could be inflicted. 
Death Tliese criminals were all convicted of more 

Sentences. ,i n ^ • i 

than usually atrocious murders. 

It is satisfactory to note that the registers and 
General othcr books of the courts are well kept, 
Remarks. ^^^ ^|^^ retums are made with praise- 
worthy punctuality. 

The returns of cases for the whole Bangkok prov- 
ince were received at the Ministry within fifteen 
days of the close of the year. Typewriters, both 
Siamese and English, are extensively used in the 
courts, and this accounts to a great extent for the 
dispatch with which the general work of the courts 
is conducted. 

STATISTICS 

The following statistics are for the province of 
Bangkok. A short summary of the statistics for 
the provinces is added at the end. 

The total number of cases before the courts in the 

Bangkok province during the year was 11,470, a 

slight increase on last year (11,242). Most 

Cases in 

Bangkok of thcse cascs arose in the city of Bang- 

Province, 

kok, the five district courts in the province 
accounting for 1881 only. Of this total of 11,470 
only 229 were pending at the end of the year. 



Justice 195 

Of the total number of cases 8140 were criminal. 
There were 57 convictions for homicide (26 being 
manslaughter), a decrease of 27. The criminal 
previous year seems to have been much cases. 

above the average. For theft there were 1479 con- 
victions, nearly double the year 120, but about the 
same as the year 119. 

There were altogether a total of 3418 cases which 
ended in conviction and 2637 in acquittal. The 
convictions were forty-two per cent, of Percentage of 
the cases disposed of, a proportion which Convictions, 
is very much the same as last year. This result, 
however, is unsatisfactory. 

The percentage of sixty-two in the central crim- 
inal court was fairly satisfactory, and the Attorney- 
General's Department, which is concerned almost 
entirely with the serious crimes dealt with in the 
central criminal court, obtained ninety-four per 
cent, of convictions out of the 857 cases they took 
up. This percentage includes cases which they 
appealed and were successful with in the Appeal 
Court. 

In the police courts the police act as prosecutors, 
and the percentage of convictions in the chief police 
court in Bangkok (Borispah No. i) was fifty-five. 
The average percentage of convictions in the district 



196 Kingdom of Siam 

courts was thirty-four and in Nontaburi twenty- 
three. 

The magistrates can only deal with the evidence 
put before them, and should any prosecutor think 
he has not obtained justice he has the remedy of 
appeal, which costs nothing except some trouble. 
Out of the 3801 cases before the Borispah Court 
No. I there were only 73 appeals, which tends to 
show that dissatisfaction with the judgments does 
not account for the large percentage of acquittals. 

Three persons were sentenced to death, 12 to im- 
prisonment for life, 47 to upwards of ten years, 93 
to a term not exceeding ten years, 465 

Punishments. . . 

to periods varymg from six months to 
three years, and 181 3 to less than six months. 
These punishments are all heavier than during the 
previous year, and in that year penalties were 
heavier than in the year 119. The courts are be- 
ginning to deal much more severely with crime than 
in past times, and this tendency is in the right 
direction. 

The number of civil cases shows a decrease from 
41 19 to 3330. The most numerous cases were for 

damae^es in assault, which is freely allowed 

Civil Cases. ^ ■' 

by Siamese law. There were 965 of these 
cases. There were 387 land cases, 386 proceedings 



Justice 197 

for divorce, 154 cases of malicious injury to prop- 
erty, 338 on commercial contracts, 51 actions against 
persons who are termed co-respondents in English 
law, 97 cases regarding deceased estates, 60 of de- 
posit for safekeeping, and many other miscellaneous 
actions. 

The amount of work in the Court of Foreign 
Causes, the court in which foreigners are plaintiffs, 
is very small in comparison with the ordinary work 
of the courts. There were only forty-seven cases 
this year, but this does not include petty cases in 
the police courts, of which there are not separate 
returns. Twelve of these cases were appealed, and 
judgment reversed in one only; British subjects 
form the majority of plaintiffs, but suits forwarded 
by seven other different consulates were also dis- 
posed of. 

The division of the Appeal Court dealing with 
Bangkok had before it 11 79 cases, of which 10 only 
were carried forward as arrears, and the Appeal 

division for the provinces had 2394 cases 
of which 463 had to be carried forward. 

The division for the provinces is being reinforced 
by two additional judges this year, and this will 
relieve the strain considerably. 

In the Appeal Court were confirmed seventy-five 



198 Kingdom of Siam 

per cent, of the judgments, amended six per cent., 
and reversed nineteen per cent. Last year seventy- 
two per cent, were confirmed. 

The Supreme Court of Appeal (Dika Court) is 
not under the control of the Ministry of Justice. 
Supreme ^^^ j^dgcs are appointed by His Majesty, 
Court of ^j^j ^YiQ expenses are paid out of the 

Appeal. ^ '■ 

Legislative Council budget. There were 
1 175 cases before the court for adjudication, of which 
443 were arrears from the previous year. 

The Japanese Legal Adviser was permanently at- 
tached to the court during the year, and the Minis- 
ter of Justice and the Judicial Adviser also hold 
commissions. The Minister of Justice and the Ju- 
dicial Adviser, however, only sit, as a rule, in more 
than usually important cases, or where decision is 
to form a precedent for the application of Siamese 
law to modern conditions. 

Of the 1 175 cases 827 were disposed of (as com- 
pared with 350 last year), but still leaving 348 to 
be carried forward. The number of appeals from 
Bangkok and the provinces were about equally 
divided. There were 12 cases from the Special 
Land Commissioner's Court. The number of really 
difficult cases is comparatively small. 

The total number of cases before the provincial 



Justice 199 

courts was 17,726, or 923 less than last cases in the 
year. The number of arrears at the close Provinces. 
of the year was 1005. 

Criminal and civil cases were about equal in num- 
ber, 1000 of the former and 8143 of the latter. In- 
cluding the returns for Bangkok already commented 
upon, the total number of cases in all courts under 
the Ministry of Justice during the year was 29,196. 
Of these, 27,962 were disposed of, carrying forward 
1234, or four per cent., as arrears. This percentage 
of arrears is very satisfactory, and is due to the 
stringent orders that were issued by the Ministry of 
Justice some time ago. 

The number of appeals disposed of by the circle 
courts (Sati Monthoii) was 3210. Of these. 

Appeals. 

2175, or sixty-eight per cent., were con- 
firmed. 

The district courts {San Mtiang), whose appeals 
were thus dealt with, are on the whole fairly satis- 
factory, judging from statistics. It has to be remem- 
bered that some of the cases reversed in the circle 
courts [San Monthoii) may have been upheld in the 
Appeal Court at Bangkok and that only nineteen 
per cent, of the total number of cases dealt with 
were appealed from the district courts. 



CHAPTER XIV 
EDUCATION 



201 



CHAPTER XIV 



EDUCATION, BY THE DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION 

ALTHOUGH education on modern lines is a 
thing of quite recent introduction into Siam, 
the temple schools have provided a certain amount 
of instruction from time immemorial. True, it was 
of a primitive kind, but its graduates were able to 
read and write their own language, and in some 
cases acquired more or less knowledge of the sacred 
language, Pali. Instruction was given by the priests 
attached to the temples in which the schools were 
held. Before the great movement of the Siamese 
nation seaward had begun, when Sukkothai was the 
capital of the state, in the twelfth and thirteenth 
centuries, there were schools and scholars in Siam. 
In this respect the condition of Siam was very much 
the same as that of the great Western nations. 
Education centred in the Wat (temple), as it did in 
the monastery in Europe, and Pali took the place of 

Latin to the studiously inclined. It is only within 

203 



204 Kingdom of Siam 

the last hundred years that Siam has fallen so far 
behind Western nations. Probably even fifty years 
ago the percentage of illiteracy in the capital was 
not much greater than in many capitals of Europe; 
but whereas Europe has forged ahead with amazing 
rapidity Siam has until recently been content to 
stand still. 

That attitude has now gone and for ever, and the 
people themselves are qualified to attain to any 
standard. Naturally quick and retentive they have 
a genuine love and desire for knowledge and respect 
for the possessor of it. To this has latterly been 
added an appreciation of the benefits, moral and 
material, likely to accrue from it. 

The zeal for education has been a part of the gen- 
eral quickening of the nation that the last few years 
have witnessed, and has met with the approval and 
encouragement of His Majesty the King and of all 
in high places. The first-fruits of this zeal was 
the establishment of an Education Department. 
Formed at first as a separate department, it was 
afterwards enlarged into a Ministry of Public In- 
struction, taking cognizance of education in general, 
ecclesiastical matters, the superintendence and up- 
keep of hospitals, and text-book compilation. In 
this form the Department of Education has had 







Q 



Education 205 

an existence of about fourteen years. At certain 
periods of its history it cannot, perhaps, be said to 
have been particularly active, but of its progress in 
the last few years there can be no question. 

The work of education is always gradual, and it is 
impossible to point to immediate results such as can 
be produced by effort directed in most other ways, 
but there are already many tangible evidences of the 
work done. 

Primary schools have been established in every 
part of the capital and are attended by ten thousand 
scholars. In these a four-years course of instruction 
is given in the ordinary subjects, much the same as 
in all primary schools the world over. After com- 
pleting this course the scholar who wishes to con- 
tinue his studies may enter one of the secondary 
schools. Here, in addition to the ordinary subjects, 
instruction is given in English, higher mathematics, 
practical geometry, and the knowledge of Pali terms 
and words necessary to the correct writing and 
understanding of official letters, documents, and 
Siamese literature. A thorough knowledge of the 
Siamese language is in itself an achievement of no 
mean order, and the various additional subjects in- 
cluded in the code justify the description of second- 
ary schools. 



2o6 Kingdom of Siam 

Three years spent in one of these schools give a 
boy the necessary mental equipment for ordinary 
departmental work. And here it may be pointed 
out that a very large proportion of the scholars are 
destined to enter the Government service. The 
educational system of a country must always be 
framed in accordance with the country's require- 
ments. The Siamese are distinctly a governing race. 
Thus for the nation's needs a civil-service college is 
a more practical institution than a technical school. 
This college is one of the special schools which a 
scholar may enter after completing his course in the 
secondary schools ; here future administrators are 
given some idea of the duties and responsibilities 
that will in time devolve upon them. The pupils 
mostly enter the service of the Department of the 
Interior and will carry new methods of organization 
into the provinces. 

There are various other special schools into which 
the scholar may pass on the termination of his 
secondary course. The English schools, of which 
there are at present three under the department, 
one residential and two day-schools, give thorough 
instruction in English. Here the students are 
further incited to work by the prospect of being 
sent abroad to continue their studies. His Majesty 



Education 207 

the King has donated two scholarships to be com- 
peted for annually by any bona-fide Siamese subject 
under the age of nineteen. The fortunate winners 
of these scholarships, worth three hundred pounds 
a year for four years, are sent to Europe and per- 
mitted to take up any line of study which they 
choose, the sole condition being that at the end of 
their course they place their services at the disposal 
of the Government. Others chosen from the list 
may also be sent to be trained as teachers, on their 
return to spread the knowledge they have acquired, 
as teachers, or compilers of much-needed text- 
books in the vernacular. The number so sent 
might well and probably will be increased in future. 
In addition to the Government schools there are also 
several private institutions, of which special mention 
may be made: of the Assumption College (staffed 
by the Reverend Brothers of St. Gabriel) and the 
High School of the American Presbyterian Mission. 
They are both residential and day-schools combined 
and do much good work. "Wang Lang," also 
under mission control, performs a similar service for 
girls and has an excellent record of work and service. 
Of special schools attached to the different depart- 
ments there are many. These take scholars from 
both primary and secondary schools, but in the 



2o8 Kingdom of Siam 

latter case the special course is shortened. Mention 
may be made of the Law School, the Military and 
Naval Colleges (especially popular with the sons of 
nobles), and the Medical School and College, which 
is doing much real if quiet work, sending out quali- 
fied men into the provinces to fight against the epi- 
demics that have in the past sometimes decimated 
the population. 

From these schools promising students are se- 
lected from time to time to be sent abroad, there to 
continue and to perfect their studies. 

The Survey School (residential) trains men for use 
in its own department, giving a thorough practical 
training both in the schoolroom and in the field. 

There are in addition schools for training men for 
work in the railway department, the police, the 
provincial gendarmerie, and in sericulture, this last 
being under Japanese instruction and supervision. 

Lastly and most important of all, as being those 
' on which the success of the others depends, come 
the two normal colleges. One trains teachers for 
both the primary and secondary schools of the capi- 
tal ; the other, recently established but already very 
full, is intended primarily to supply the needs of the 
provinces. Upon this school the future of educa- 
tion in the provinces will largely depend. In edu- 




Pi 

6 

O 

A 
O 

o 

w 

o 



Education 209 

cation, as in most other things, the capital is far in 
advance of the rest of the country. True, there are 
schools in every province and in communication 
with the department, but the control over them is 
more nominal than real. This year two organizing 
inspectors have been sent out to near provinces, 
whose work it will be to raise the provincial schools 
to the same standard as those of the capital. This 
will be the work of the future: to establish a uni- 
form national graded system of education, and while 
perfecting the system in the capital to extend its 
workings to every town and village in the country. 

It is a work of great magnitude, but its accom- 
plishment is only a question of time. The desire 
for education is rapidly spreading, and the provin- 
cial authorities are as eager as the central department 
for the work to be started. 

There are many difficulties in the way, the chief 
being the want of money and the scarcity of suitable 
teachers. But these will be lessened in time, and 
there are many cheering features, not the least of 
which is the manifest enthusiasm and self-sacrificing 
work of the Buddhist priests. These form a con- 
siderable part of the teaching staff of the primary 
schools. 

They are for the most part keen teachers, full of 
14 



2IO 



Kingdom of Siam 



their work and excellent managers. Temples and 
priests figure very largely in the work of education, 
and it is well that this is so. 

Little progress has as yet been made in the work 
of educating girls, and in the higher branches of 
education much still remains to be done. At pres- 
ent the foundations are being laid, and if the more 
ornamental part has not yet appeared it is not alto- 
gether a bad sign for the future. 




CHAPTER XV 

ARCHAEOLOGY 



211 



CHAPTER XV 

SIAMESE ARCHEOLOGY — A SYNOPTICAL SKETCH BY 
COLONEL GERINI 



SCARCELY any of those neolithic implements 
typified in the shouldered Celt, which have been 
traced in a continuous and homogeneous series all 
from Chutya-Nagpur in India through Quasi-total 
Assam, Burmah, the Yun-nan borders, prehlstorL 
Laos, Kamboja, and the Malay Penin- Remains, 
sula, to the Archipelago, have so far been discovered 
in Siam proper. The last find recorded is the head 
of a stone hatchet dug out a few years ago at some 
thirty feet below the surface of the ground on the 
railway works, at a point about six miles to the west 
of Korat. It is now in the Royal Museum at Bang- 
kok, Although there is ample evidence to show 
that the ethnic element characterized by such imple- 
ments must have been in the early days also in 
occupation of the Menam valley, for some reason 
or other, chiefly, perhaps, on account of as yet 

213 



2 14 Kingdom of Siam 

insufficient and systematic exploration of the coun- 
try, such prehistoric and presumably aboriginal relics 
have hitherto failed to come to light in this region, 
except in exceedingly rare dribblets. Accordingly, 
the archaeology of Siam must needs start, for the 
present, with the Brahmano-Buddhist period. 

From several centuries before the Christian era a 
double system of traders and adventurers began to 
The indu flow iuto Indo-Chiua from, respectively, 
northern and southern India, reaching the 
upper parts of the peninsula by land through Burmah 
and its southern coast by sea, and founding there 
settlements and commercial stations. Brahminism 
and later on Buddhism (third century B.C.), with 
most other achievements of Indian culture, followed 
in the wake of these pioneers; and thus it is to 
ancient India that Indo-China owes her early civili- 
zation. At the dawn of the Christian era, as I have 
elsewhere demonstrated, Buddhism had already 
gained a firm foothold on the east coast of the 
Malay Peninsula, near the head of the Gulf of Siam, 
whence it advanced and soon spread all over the 
country of the Menam delta. On the other hand, 
Brahminism had established itself in central and 
northern Siam, where Swankhalok and Sukhothai 
formed its principal foci. Not more than about 




Ruins at Ayuthia 



Archaeology 215 

four centuries later we begin to hear of Nagara Sri 
Dharmaraja, or Ligor, as the chief centre of both 
Buddhism and Brahminism on the east coast of the 
Malay Peninsula; while on the Menam delta we 
find both faiths prevalent, but more especially Bud- 
dhism, in the territory of Phrah-Prathom in the 
present Nakhon-Chai-Sri province. 

In the sixth century A.D. no less than three cities 
already existed in central Siam, to wit: Swankhalok 
(gt; B.C.), Sukhothai {circa 70 B.C.), and 

^^^ ^ V / /> Siam'sMost 

Kampheng-phet (a.d. 457); and in the Ancient 

Cities. 

north, not far from the headwaters of the 
Menam, another one, Lamphun, had just been 
founded (a.d. 527). The two first-named were 
alternately, for the next eight centuries, the capitals 
of the famous Swankhalok-Sukhothai State, which 
so long held hegemony over central Siam. The 
last one became the capital of the first Thai king- 
dom in the Menam valley, holding its own until 
A.D. 1 28 1, when it was supplanted by the newly 
rising Lao power that established soon afterwards 
its seat at Chieng-Mai (a.d. 1296). In southern 
Siam we find at the same remote period the cities 
of Sri Vijaya, on and about the site of the present 
Phrah-Prathom village ; and the then but recently 
founded Lopburi (a.d. 493), which was soon to 



2i6 Kingdom of Siam 



become the chief centre of power for southern Siam. 
All these, conjointly with Ligor, already referred 
to, are Siam's most ancient cities. Accordingly, it 
is on their sites and in the adjoining territory that the 
oldest monuments and about all that remains of 
Siamese antiquities of that early period are to be 
found. 

The influence of Indu civilization was not slow in 
making itself felt in the centres above described and 
The Monu- to pcrpctuatc its own memory in monu- 
ments, ments whether epigraphic or otherwise. 
It is, however, as naturally follows, in edifices de- 
voted to worship that it began to make itself mani- 
fest. 

The oldest of these structures are to be found at 

Swankhalok in the shape of gloomy shrines and 

hermit cells, erected mostly on the tops 

In Central -^ ^ 

and Northern and flanks of the hills, and carefully 
oriented according to the cardinal points. 
They are characterized by massive cyclopean walls 
surmounted by gable roofs, all built of laterite 
blocks excavated near by, and laid throughout in 
horizontal courses without any cement ; their unique 
entrance, which faces the east, curving towards the 
top into a pointed, often lancet-shaped arch. The 
style quite resembles that of the ancient central and 



Archaeology 2 1 7 

northern India temples, thus evidencing that their 
planning, and perhaps construction, was due at least 
in part to immigrants and settlers from those quar- 
ters. The shrine, apparently Sivaite, erected on 
the summit of the Laong Samli Hill, near the centre 
of old Swankhalok city, is no doubt one of the most 
ancient of these structures, for by tradition it is 
almost coeval with the foundation of the city itself 
{circa 95 B.C.). 

Later on follow more elaborate creations, charac- 
terized by the same massive style of building, but 
embellished with portals, railings, and _^ 

^ ' >=> ' Develop- 

symbolical decorations, devoted to Brah- ments. 

minic worship; and further Buddhist spires and 
pagoda-shaped reliquaries; royal palaces and city 
walls, and smaller monuments, some of which are of 
an exceedingly graceful architecture, which may be 
seen in considerable numbers all over the sites of 
old Swankhalok, Sukhothai, Kampheng-phet, and 
other ancient cities of central and northern Siam, 
The masterpiece of all, and the best-preserved speci- 
men, is undoubtedly the spire of Wat Phrah Prang, 
at the southeastern corner of old Swankhalok city, 
dating from the latter part of the eleventh century. 
Notable also is the Brahminic temple of Sri Swai 
in old Sukhothai, with its three finely ornamented. 



2i8 Kingdom of Siam 

tapering domes, built somewhat after the style of 
the Angkor Wat and the Mi-bun shrine in Cambodia. 
The material exclusively employed in the oldest 
monuments of central and northern Siam is laterite 
„ .,,. hewn into fair-sized blocks. Later on, 

Building ' 

Materials. \^^^ ^q^ bcforc the eleventh century, this 
becomes associated with gray or greenish-gray sand- 
stone, used for statues, doorways, railings, and 
decorative sculptures. A striking example of its 
employment in huge monoliths occurs in the gate- 
ways of the walled enclosure surrounding Wat Phrah 
Prang at old Swankhalok. From the twelfth cen- 
tury A.D. brickwork comes into evidence and soon 
prevails, forming in after ages the characteristic of 
Thai architecture, which elaborated and developed 
in brick, plaster, and mortar the old architectural 
motives just described. 

This being a deltaic country where neither laterite 
nor other natural building materials are to be found 
In Southern ^^ccpt at the foot of the hills flanking 
Siam. both sidcs of the Menam valley, stone 

structures do not occur except on the eastern bor- 
ders on the one side, and in the province of Rajburi 
on the west, and then but very sparsely and of very 
diminutive sizes. The prevailing material is brick, 
and it is accordingly of this that we find the oldest 




w 
h-l 

H 
Q 
O 

< 



Archaeology 219 

monuments built, though not unfrequently coarse- 
textured sandstone, either yellowish or reddish, 
more rarely gray, in color, occurs associated with it 
in terminals, wall crests, stelae (Wat Maha That at 
Rajburi), in statues (gray, Phrah Prathom), and even 
in square blocks (Wat Na Phrah That at Lopburi). 
The oldest monument of southern Siam appears 
to be the original Phrah Prathom spire, now encased 
in a recently erected and far more imposing one of 
over three hundred feet in height. Nearly co-eval 
with it is the neighboring Phrah Thon pagoda, also 
in brickwork (A.D. 656). Then follow the remains of 
ancient temples at Lopburi, on the sites of which 
Buddhist Wats now rise; and the ruins of primitive 
hermitages with debris of statues and stelae on the 
flanks of the Sabab Hill near Chanthabun, a city 
dating from the eighth or ninth century A.D., if not 
earlier. At Ligor, Wat Na Phrah That, in the 
centre of the city, and Wat Maheyong (Mahiyan- 
gana), on its outskirts, are undoubtedly very ancient 
foundations; and ruins of considerable antiquity, 
never yet brought before this to the notice of the 
public, with statues of deities, etc., occur on the 
western side of the Malay Peninsula at the Phrah 
Maria (/. c, Visnu) Hill, on the upper course of the 
Takua-pa (Takopa) River. A thorough examination 



2 20 Kingdom of Siam 

of the as yet archaeologically unexplored adjoining 
districts is sure to reveal the existence of many 
more ancient remains. All early structures on this 
region are in brick, the material generally employed 
all over the east coast of the Bay of Bengal as far 
north as Pegu, Arakan, and the delta of the Ganges. 

The chief characteristics of the old monuments of 
southern Siam are, besides the almost exclusive 
employment in them of brickwork, their more gen- 
eral Buddhist destination than in the north, where 
Brahminism was the prevailing form of worship in 
the early days. Moreover, their style of architec- 
ture is, as may easily be inferred, more southern 
India, i. e., Dravidian, in type, thus most closely 
approaching that of the latter Cambodian monu- 
ments. Nowhere do we find, however, in Siam, 
whether north or south, any sublime creations 
equalling in grandeur and artistic perfection those 
of Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom, which are, in- 
deed, unique in that respect not only in Indo-China 
or even Asia, but perhaps in the whole world. 

Limestone caves, many of which are stalactitic, 

abound in southern Siam, especially in the Rajburi 

and Phejburi provinces, but nowhere 

Caves. 

more than on the Malay Peninsula. 
These, as in Cambodia and Pegu, have been mostly 



Archaeology 221 

utilized as Buddhist sanctuaries and places of pil- 
grimage; but beyond some decorations and statues, 
generally in brick or plaster, they offer nothing re- 
markable in the way of architectural achievement, 
compared with, for instance, the rock-cut temples 
of western India or even Ceylon. Buddhist clay 
tablets, bearing Sanskrit legends of the tenth and 
eleventh centuries, have, however, been dug out of 
the caves to the northeast of Trang, on the west 
coast of the Malay Peninsula. They greatly re- 
semble those from Pagan and Tagoung in Burmah. 
Although no such fruitful harvest of ancient in- 
scriptions has been gathered in Siam as in Cambodia 
and Champa, owing, no doubt, to the lack 

• 1 1 • 1 Epigraphy. 

of thorough and systematic archaeological 
exploration, the petroglyphic monuments thus far 
brought to light are of sufficient historical and palaeo- 
graphic importance to deserve more than a passing 
mention. Their chronological range extends for 
the districts on the Malay Peninsula as far back as 
the fifth century of the Christian era, while in 
southern Siam it borders upon the sixth or seventh. 
No inscription has, strange to say, so far been dis- 
covered in either central or northern Siam earlier 
than the fourteenth century, i. <?., than the period 
when Thai supremacy had already firmly established 



222 Kingdom of Siam 

itself over the whole of the Menam valley. Ancient 
manuscripts are extremely scarce, and the oldest 
ones so far known are on palm leaves, and do not, as 
a rule, go back more than three centuries. No coins 
with inscriptions or monograms dating earlier than 
the fourteenth century have as yet come to light. 

Leaving aside the already well-known inscriptions 
of Kedah and province Wellesley {circa A.D. 400), 
On the Malay ^^^ procccdiug up the pcniusula, we feel 
Peninsula. bound to noticc the Pali and Sanskrit in- 
scribed stelae of the eighth century A.D. from Wat 
Maheyong in the province of Ligor, a Pali inscrip- 
tion on a brass plate from the Takua-thung district 
{circa ninth century A.D.), and, what will be welcome 
news to scholars, a petroglyphic monument of about 
the same age as those of Kedah and province Wel- 
lesley just discovered at old Takua-pa (Takopa), 
within the precincts of Wat Na-Muang, in the middle 
of a former bed of the river. This last find is of the 
highest importance, as evidencing that Indu influ- 
ence had established itself, not merely at one or two 
isolated points on the west coast of the Malay Pen- 
insula, but practically over the whole length of that 
littoral, whence it crossed overland to the Gulf of 
Siam. 

In the country of the Menam delta the oldest 



ern 
Siam. 



Archaeology 223 

epigraphic records hitherto discovered are those in 
Pali on terra-cotta tablets, dug at Phrah !„ south 
Prathom some fifty years ago (a.d. 1857). 
They contain the Buddhist profession of faith, and 
the shape of their characters (of a southern Indian 
type closely identical to the Vengi and western 
Chalukya) argues their age to be the sixth or seventh 
century A.D. Then follows a gap stretching down 
until the Khmer inscription from Lopburi, which 
bears two dates corresponding to A.D. 1022 and 
1025. At Chanthabun, however, both Sanskrit and 
Khmer inscriptions dating from the ninth and tenth 
centuries occur, as v/ell as at Battambong and in the 
province of Korat, on the outskirts of the Cambodian 
epigraphical zone. These are all the records so far 
discovered of the age of Cambodian domination over 
southern and central Siam, which extended, with 
but few interruptions, from the middle of the 
seventh to that of the thirteenth century. 

The following period, that of independent Thai 
rule, is first marked by the Sukhothai inscription of 
about A.D. 1300, this being the earliest 

The Dawn 

epigraphic monument extant worded in ofThai 

the Thai language, and engraved in the 
Thai characters that had then just been invented. 
After this, Thai inscriptions become numerous in 



224 Kingdom of Siam 

both central and northern Siam, as well as in west- 
ern Laos (Chieng-Mai), and we enter upon the 
phase of national Thai history, centring at first in 
Sukhothai (a.D. i 257-1 350) and then in Ayuthia 
(a.d. 1 350-1767) as successive capitals. 

Most of the inscriptions alluded to above are 
carved on finely grained sandstone slabs of either 
paiaeographic a gray or greenish-gray color. At old 
Swankhalok and Sukhothai, dark - blue 
slate and phyllades have also been at times em- 
ployed. Inscribed bricks and tiles are common on 
the delta, as well as all over the Malay Peninsula, 
where also occur the stamped clay -tablets bearing 
Buddhist images and inscriptions already referred to. 

Until A.D. 1500, such epigraphic records as bear 
dates are invariably dated in the Saka era, begin- 
ning A.D. 78, which has been the one in general use, 
until comparatively modern times, and, with but rare 
and sporadic exceptions, all over Indo-China and the 
Archipelago. This fact, as I have elsewhere more 
fully pointed out, proves the pretended foundation 
of the Chula era in A.D. 638 at Swankhalok to be 
a pure myth absolutely unworthy of credence.^ 

' Gupta era in Burmah (fifth century A.D.), also Buddhist era 
(from A.D. 1084 downwards), and Sakaraj (Culla Saka) era at about 
the same period (from A.D. T017 downwards). In Siam the Bud- 



Archaeology 225 

In the Swankhalok and Sukhothai monuments 
from the eleventh century downwards, glazed tiles, 
statuettes, friezes, terminals, and other 

1 • • 1 1 A other 

decorations m glazed pottery occur. A Noticeable 
ceramic industry turnins^ out products in matures m 

J o ir Connection 

imitation of the crackled ware of the ^'^^ Ancient 

Monuments. 

Chinese Sung dynasty was started at 
Swankhalok towards the close of the eleventh 
century. Iron I found employed in the walls of 
Wat Sri-chum (old Sukhothai), a temple dating from 
the end of the thirteenth century and built of square 
blocks of gray sandstone carefully fitted and clamped 
inside. Bronze castings of considerable dimensions 
also begin to appear at about the same period, as 
well as Buddhist statuettes carved out of jade, 
quartz, alabaster, ivory, and other prized materials. 
More ancient, however, appears to be the establish- 
ment of the art of niello-ware-making at Ligor, 
where it soon attained a high degree of perfection. 
With the advent of brickwork structures, wood finds 



dhist era occurs at times on purely religious inscriptions, but not 
before a.d. 1357, when it is but cursorily mentioned in the Thai in- 
scription from Wat Sri-chum at old Sukhothai. Its first direct em- 
ployment is in the Pali inscription on the model of Buddha's 
footprint from Sukhothai (now in the former second king's tem- 
ple, Bangkok, dated in the year 1970 from Buddha's Nirvana, or 
A.D. 1426). 
15 



226 Kingdom of Siam 

wide employment in buildings, where it is inserted 
into the masonry and utilized separately in the 
shape of pillars and supports for the roof, with 
great detriment to the solidity and durability of the 
constructions. On the other hand, however, its 
extended use gives an impetus to the art of wood- 
carving, which soon attains marked excellence in 
ornamental pieces, but above all in door frames and 
panels, of which several highly finished specimens 
are still extant (doors of the Phrah Then sanctuary 
at Thung-yang, and of Wat Suthat at Bangkok, 
brought thither from Sukhothai, both dating from 
the fourteenth or fifteenth century). Later on this 
industry is superseded, especially in door and win- 
dow panels, by the more modern one of lacquered, 
gilt, and mother-of-pearl inlaid work, of which per- 
haps the most perfect early specimen extant may be 
witnessed in the massive door panels of the Phrah 
Chinaraj sanctuary at Phisnulok (made to the king's 
order in A.D. 1755). 

With these developments we enter upon the phase 
of modern Siamese art, at the threshold of which 
the province of archaeology — forming the object of 
the present cursory sketch — must, as a matter of 
course, end. 



CHAPTER XVI 

TRANSPORTATION AND MEANS OF 
COMMUNICATION 



227 



CHAPTER XVI 



RIVER AND LAND TRANSPORT, BY THE SECRETARY- 
GENERAL 

THE chief means of communication and trans- 
port in Siam is by water. This is due to 
the configuration of the country and to the bulky 
nature of its staple exports, rice and teak. 

A glance at the map of Siam shows that the 
river Menam Chow Phraya forms the main artery 
by which nearly all the produce for export reaches 
Bangkok and by which naturally the imported goods 
are distributed over the country. 

In addition to the Menam there are the Pachim, 
Tachin, and Mekong rivers, which are connected by 
canals with the Menam, and also the whole of Lower 
Siam is intersected by canals opening into the main 
river. 

Though roads exist in the towns and in Upper 
Siam, where the country is hilly, they would be 
practically useless in Lower Siam, where the greater 

229 



230 Kingdom of Siam 

part of the country is under water during the wet 
season. 

Very few data can be given respecting the number 
of boats in Siam, but the following figures show the 
great extent of this means of communication. Dur- 
ing the past year, a five days' reckoning of the num- 
ber of boats passing certain given points was made 
with this result : 

Tamnearn Saduak Canal 3163 boats 

Prawete Canal 2291 " 

San Sep Canal 5302 " 

Rangsit (lock gate) 2978 ' ' 

An average of about 683 per day at a given spot. 
A point taken on a canal joining two rivers, the Pase 
Charoen Canal, gave the number of 9851 boats in 
seven days, of which 7830 were small. The highest 
average number of boats passing a given spot in 
Europe is said to be 200 per day, and the figures 
for the Rhine where it enters Holland are 160 aver- 
age per day for 1898. 

Another proof of the great extent of transport by 
boat is shown by comparing the returns of the rail- 
ways to Bangkok with the export returns ; these 
show that ninety-seven per cent, of the total rice 
exported reached Bangkok by boat and ninety-three 
and a half per cent, of the other exports. 



Transportation and Communication 231 

This enormous boat traffic has resulted in the 
evolution of many interesting forms of boats suit- 
able for special requirements, varying from the 
miniature canoe, just sufficient for one person, up 
to the heavy rice-boat which brings the harvest to 
the capital. 

Boats are propelled in Lower Siam by three ways 
— chowing, poling, and paddling. To "chow" is 
the Siamese name for propelling a boat much like 
the way a gondola is propelled — that is, the rower 
stands facing the bow, and the oar swivels on a small 
upright fixed on the edge of the boat. The great 
advantage of this method is that, with a single oar, 
the rower always sees ahead and steers the boat by 
the manipulation of the oar. 

The long boats which make the journey to the 
north, a journey varying from three weeks to three 
months, according to the state of the water, are 
generally towed by launches where there is sufficient 
water, then rowed in European fashion till the shal- 
lows are reached, where they are poled or punted. 
In the dry season it is frequently necessary to dig 
channels and drag them through the sand-banks 
stretching across the river, hence these boats have 
to be built with a massive keel to stand the strain ; 
similarly when descending the river there are rapids 



232 Kingdom of Siam 

to be shot and rocks to be avoided. Persons 
travelling under the most favorable conditions in 
the best season can do the journey from Bangkok 
to Chieng Mai in three weeks, goods in six. The 
wages of a boatman are from £i to £ijio a 
month. The overland trade is carried on chiefly 
by means of caravans of carriers, mules, and bul- 
locks. Elephants are not much used in trading, 
being generally employed in working teak and oc- 
casionally in carr3/ing baggage and rice. Large 
numbers of elephants are bred in captivity and 
wild ones are captured. 

The carriers are mostly Shans. Mules are not 
bred in Siam, but come over from Yunnan carrying 
goods. The cost of mule transport is i^. to 2s. per 
load (150 lbs.) for ten miles. 

Bullock transport is much slower than mule trans- 
port, but about half the cost per load of ninety 
pounds. A bullock caravan has about one hundred 
animals. 

Siam entered on her career of railway construction 
in 1891. 

The policy then adopted has been adhered to 
since and still controls the spirit in which 

Railways. 

railways were originally decided on. 
The three chief points of this policy are: (i) 



Transportation and Communication 233 

Construction by the state of all main lines. (2) 
Construction out of revenue. (3) Concessions given 
for smaller lines. 

The state has now built and works 456 kilometres 
of main line, and is steadily pushing the line through 
to the north. This main line leaves Bangkok and 
proceeds almost due north until it has passed the 
old capital; it then bears to the northeast, but 
divides into two branches, the one terminating at 
Korat, the other, the main line to the north, is 
open for 42 kilometres beyond the junction, while 
160 kilometres are under construction, and work is 
being pushed forward as rapidly as possible. 

The second main line connects the west of Siam 
to the capital and reaches the head of the Malay 
Peninsula. Some day it will probably be extended 
to meet the line which runs up the Malay Peninsula 
from Singapore. 

Lines built by concessionaires. There are two 
short lines terminating in Bangkok, one of which 
has been working since 1893, the other is still under 
construction. Another line connecting with the 
main northern line has been recently opened. 
Owing to most of the lines being recently opened 
it is impossible to give statistics. 

The Government lines, 306 kilometres of which 



234 Kingdom of Siam 

were open from April, 1901, to March, 1902, carried 
850,525 passengers, and the profit earned, after 
placing eight per cent, of the net profit to a special 
improvement fund, amounted to two and a third 
per cent, on the total capital expenditure. 

The Paknam (concession railway), which was 
opened in 1893, has paid a steady and increasing 
dividend since its opening. It now pays over ten 
per cent, interest on its capital. 

Except in the capital there are no tramways in 
the country. The tramway in Bans^kok 

Tramways. ^ o 

is owned and managed by a Danish com- 
pany under a concession from the Government. 

The line started as a horse tramway, but was 
afterwards electrified and was then amalgamated 
with the electric light company, and power is now 
supplied both for the tramway and lighting from 
the one generating station. 

The length of line at present open is 17.3 kilo- 
metres, and in contemplation 16 kilometres. The 
fare per kilometre is i.i atts (0.5 cent gold) second 
class and 2.2 atts (i. cent gold) first class. 

The number of passengers carried per annum is 
over 10,000,000. The capital of the combined com- 
panies is about 3,000,000 ticals, including debentures 
say about i^ 160,000 sterling, and the profit earned 



Transportation and Communication 235 

by the tramway for the past six months was about 
/"9000 sterling. 

POST AND TELEGRAPHS 

Siam entered the Postal Union in 1885. The 
collection, transport, and distribution of letters is a 
state monopoly. 

The post and telegraph department, which in- 
cludes the Government telephone department, is 
organized under a director-general and forms part 
of the Ministry of Public Works. 

The receipts for the year 1901 amounted to fr. 
177,315 and the expenditure to fr. 489,227, the ex- 
cess of expenditure over revenue being fr. 311,912. 

This heavy excess is due to several causes. In 
1901 Siam was still working under a silver standard, 
and the postal and telegraph department was com- 
pelled to make remitments in gold to pay its 
share of the international charges. The population 
is small compared with the size of the country, but 
widely spread ; the cost of transport is therefore 
extremely heavy, whilst the charges are light. 

Inland letters pay a minimum of 4 atts (8 cen- 
times), and foreign letters 14 atts (28 centimes). 

STATISTICS, I9OI 

Letters 777, 380 

Post Cards 101,441 



236 Kingdom of Siam 



Printed Matter 470,413 

Samples 5,827 

Postal Order 2,oSo 

Postal Orders (value in fr.) £49,097 

Post-offices 154 

Letter Boxes 330 

Staff and Employees 705 

The annual number of post cards and letters per 
person is o. 12. 

(Values are given in francs and centimes to com- 
pare with those issued by the International Bureau 
at Berne.) 

Siam is linked to the telegraph system of the 
world at three points, viz., Tavoy, Saigon, 

Telegraphs. 

and Penang. 

The length of line is 4710 kilometres and the 
number of offices 71. 

The upkeep of the lines is costly and difficult ; 
the rapid growth of vegetation, the tropical thunder- 
storms, and the insidious insects are all factors which 
cause rapid deterioration of the lines. The cost of 
inland telegrams is 64 centimes for the first ten 
words and 8 centimes for each additional word. 

Bangkok is well supplied with telephones and also 
is linked to some of the neighboring 

Telephones. 

towns. The length of line open is 596 
kilometres. 



CHAPTER XVII 
MINING 



237 



CHAPTER XVII 

MINING, BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT 
OF MINES AND GEOLOGY 

MINING in Siam is practically confined to tin, 
gems (sapphires and rubies), and gold, their 
relative importance being in the order given. 

The mining industry is under the control of the 
Royal Department of Mines and Geology, which 
was created in 1890. The Siam Mining Act of 1901 
is now in force for most parts of the country, and 
prospecting licenses and mining leases may be ob- 
tained without difficulty. In this article the differ- 
ent minerals mined for in Siam are referred to in the 
following order: gold, copper, lead, iron, tin, gems, 
coal, oil, saltpetre. 

Gold is very widely distributed in Siam, and is 
washed out of the alluvium by the natives in several 
districts. The chief of these are Pu Kiriu, 

Gold. 

Bangtaphan, Kow Suplu, and Tomoh. 
In the last district Chinese workers carry on lode 

239 



240 Kingdom of Siam 

as well as alluvial mining. The native gold-mining 
industry is, however, a very unimportant one, the 
total number of persons regularly employed probabl}^ 
not exceeding one thousand. 

Gold-mining according to modern methods has 
been far from successful in Siam. Many conces- 
sions have been granted by the Government, and 
much capital has been expended, but in no single 
instance have mining operations met with any suc- 
cess. This may be accounted for partly by the 
difficult nature of the country for carrying on mining 
by modern methods, and partly by bad manage- 
ment, but it remains to be seen whether the future 
will bring forth better results. 

Copper is known to exist in small quantities in 

several districts, the best known being at Chan Tuk. 

In former days the deposits at Chan Tuk 

Copper. - -, . \, 

were worked to a small extent by the 
Siamese, and during the last few years a European 
syndicate has attempted to open up the mines, but 
so far the results have not been satisfactory. There 
are no records of copper-mining ever having been 
attempted elsewhere. 

Lead is not known to have been worked in Siam 
except in the Malay state of Jalar, where large 
veins of argentiferous galena are found in the lime- 



Mining 241 

stone. Some thirty years ago these were worked 
by a Singapore firm with considerable 
profit, but the enterprise had to be aban- 
doned when the fall in the price of lead turned the 
profit into a loss. 

In ancient times there was probably a considerable 
amount of iron-mining and smelting, sufficient at all 
events for the manufacture of weapons 

^ Iron. 

and other articles in common use, but the 
opening up of the country to trade, and the conse- 
quent import of foreign iron, have practically killed 
the industry, and at the present time there are only 
a few places where iron is worked, and in them the 
industry is quite insignificant. 

Tin is the only metal the working of which is of 
any great importance in Siam. Tin is found in 
small quantities in the valley of the Nam 
Sak River and in various places in north- 
ern Siam, but all the deposits of importance are 
derived from, and lie adjacent to, the great line of 
granitic upheaval which forms the boundary range 
between central Siam and Tenasserim and is the 
backbone of the Malay Peninsula; it may be traced 
down to the Dutch islands of Billiton, Banca, and 
Singkep. This great line of granite is the source of 

practically all the vast alluvial deposits of tin which 
16 



242 Kingdom of Siam 

are found in the British, Dutch, and Siamese pos- 
sessions in the East Indies. The Siamese territory 
is probably as well off in this respect as either the 
British or Dutch, and the deposits are very widely 
distributed. Tin is at the present time being 
worked in the following provinces: East Coast — 
Ratburi, Bangtaphan, Langsuan, Chaija, Bandon, 
Lakon, Jalar, Rangeh, Rahman, Kelantan, Trin- 
ganu. West Coast — Kra, Renong, Takupar, Panga, 
Takuatung, Puket, Trang, Stul, Perils, Kedah. 

In some of these provinces the works are small 
and unimportant, but the total annual production is 
little short of five thousand long tons, of a value of 
$3,000,000 (gold), taking the price of tin at $600 
per long ton. 

Generally speaking, all the mining is in the hands 
of Chinese; the labor is Chinese, and the smelting is 
done locally by Chinese methods. The only excep- 
tions to these generalizations are that one British 
and one Dutch company are working in Kedah, and 
an American company is making a small commence- 
ment in Bangtaphan, and a British smelting com- 
pany is establishing an ore-buying agency in Puket. 
The number of Siamese and Malays engaged in tin- 
mining is very small. 

There is an enormous field for the expansion of 



Mining 243 

the tin-mining industry in the Siamese possessions 
in the Malay Peninsula, and considerable activity in 
prospecting, on the part of European and American 
capitalists, has lately been shown. 

At present, Puket Island (on the west coast) is 
the most important tin-mining centre in all the 
Siamese states; but Kedah, Takuapar, and Renong 
(also on the west coast) have a considerable mining 
industry. On the east coast, Nakon Sri, Tamarat, 
and Jalar (Port Patani) are the chief centres. The 
most promising districts for future developments are 
in Kedah, Rahman, Jalar, Takuatung, and Renong, 

Sapphires and rubies are the only gems the work- 
ing of which is of any importance, though spinels, 

zircons, garnets, and topaz are also pro- 
Gems. 

duced to a small extent. Of the two 
forms of corundum, sapphires are very much more 
abundant and more largely worked than rubies. 
Siamese sapphires form a considerable proportion 
of the world's supply of this gem. Statistics, how- 
ever, are not available, as there is no duty on the 
stones, and the work is carried on by numerous 
small parties of men and even by individuals, who 
dispose of their findings to a number of travelling 
traders. Siamese rubies do not command a good 
price, as those of good color are mostly very small. 



244 Kingdom of Siam 

whilst those of good size are of poor color. It is 
believed that any really good stones which are 
found are sent overland to Burmah and sold as 
Burmese rubies. As regards statistics, the same 
remarks apply as have already been made about 
sapphires. 

Practically all Siamese sapphires come from the 
district of Phailin in Battambong. Rubies are 
worked in a small way in the same district, but the 
chief ruby workings are in Chantabun and Krat. 

The deposits are all alluvial, work being usually 
carried on by digging numerous small pits in the 
neighborhood of streams, the gem -bearing earth 
being washed by hand in the streams. 

Most of the work is in the hands of Burmese and 
Shans, who, however, employ a considerable num- 
ber of Laos as laborers. 

The gem buyers are Burmese, Shans, Singalese, 
and natives of British India, and some European 
firms in Bangkok take a share in the trade. 

The gem-mining districts are, for the most part, 
exceedingly unhealthy, this fact being a great bar 
to European enterprise in this line. 

No true coal is known to occur in Siam. A 
lignite or brown coal is found in the Malay Penin- 
sula jn various places, of which Bandon, Gerbi, 



Mining 245 

Plien, and Trang are those best known. There 
is considerable prospect of these h'gnite deposits 
being successfully exploited in the near 
future, but it is as yet too early to say 
anything more definite. Real coal has lately been 
reported from Nakon Sawan, but confirmation is 
lacking. 

Petroleum is found in Muang-Fang, in the ex- 
treme north of Siam. The amount of oil produced 
is quite insignificant- The oil may be 
collected by skimming the water which 
collects in shallow pits dug for the purpose. The 
oil thus collected is black in color and very viscous. 
It is supposed that this occurrence is geologically 
connected with the oil-fields of Burmah. 

This oil is not likely to become of any importance 
until communications have very much improved. 
At present it would be practically impossible to 
open the district so as to be able to work the de- 
posits, even if they have any value, which at present 
is an open question. 

Oil has been frequently reported in Kedah, and 
experts have pronounced it to be there, but it is 
very doubtful whether there is any truth in these 
assertions, and no samples have ever been obtained. 
It appears that people have been misled by the 



246 Kingdom of Siam 

presence of considerable quantities of marsh-gas in 
some undrained ground. 

In the limestone hills of Lopburi, Saraburi, 
Buachum, and the Prabart district there are numer- 
ous caves, many of which contain thick 

Saltpetre. -^ 

deposits of bat guano. From time im- 
memorial these have been worked for potassium 
nitrate, for the manufacture of gunpowder and 
medicine. At the present time it is still worked in- 
termittently for the same purposes, and within the 
last few years some has been sold in Bangkok for 
the manufacture of fireworks. Quite recently at- 
tempts have been made to work it on a considerable 
scale and export it to Japan. The difficulties to 
transport are, however, great, and success is not yet 
assured. 

The native method of procedure is to boil the 
crude guano with wood ashes in pans. The liquid 
is skimmed and allowed to crystallize. The crystals 
thus obtained are extracted and again treated in the 
same way. The resulting saltpetre is of a slightly 
brown color and assays about ninety-five per cent, 
potassium nitrate. Sodium nitrate is almost entirely 
absent. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
COMMERCE 



247 




CHAPTER XVIII 

COMMERCE, BY THE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF 

CUSTOMS 

SIAM has ranked herself amongst commercial 
nations for nearly four centuries. As early 
as 15 II it is recorded that the Portuguese traded 
at Bangkok, and subsequently the Japanese, the 
Dutch, and the British all entered more or less into 
commerce with her. It was not, however, until 
1856 that its present trade with almost all the com- 
mercial peoples of the world took definite root. In 
this year Sir John Bowring, on behalf of the British, 
entered into a treaty with Siam, and was followed 
during the succeeding years by the representatives 
of the other commercial nations, until now there are 
no fewer than fourteen distinct countries which com- 
plete the circle of Siam's treaty friends. 

Trade for many years appears to have fluctuated 
from various causes, but during the last twenty 
years it has steadily grown, 

249 



250 Kingdom of Siam 

The total export for 1902 was valued at 87,401,- 
889 ticals; five years ago (1897), it was 57,689,792 
ticals. The total value of imports for 1902 
amounted to 65,420,231 ticals, and in 1897 it was 
40,973,403 ticals (5 ticals = $3 Mex., or 17 ticals = 
£1 sterling approximately). 

The principal productions of Siam are rice and 
teak-wood. There are at present in Bangkok thirty- 
six mills and in the Patriew district east of Bangkok 
four others, whilst eight new ones are in course of 
erection. The mills are more than sufficient for the 
handling of the crop, and the result is great com- 
petition amongst the millers when buying from the 
farmer or middleman. This has a detrimental re- 
sult upon the growers, who are growing careless as 
to quality, or the manner in which the paddy is 
prepared for the market. The soil is, however, rich, 
and the price of the finished product has held its 
own as compared with the Burmese or Indo-China 
rice on the Singapore, Hong-Kong, and occasionally 
the European market. With care and with an ex- 
tension of the irrigation system which at present 
exists, the quality of the paddy could be much im- 
proved and its production largely increased. Atten- 
tion is now being devoted to these matters under 
the supervision of the Agricultural Department. 



Commerce 251 

Year by year more rice is being exported, principally 
due to the fact that more land is coming under cul- 
tivation, the quantities shipped for the past three 
years being as follows : 1900, 6,962,476 piculs ; 1901, 
1 1,506,736 piculs; 1902, 13,414,441 piculs. Picul = 
133^ lbs. avoir. 

The trade in teak depends each year on the rain- 
fall. The wood is felled far from the rivers and is 
floated down the creeks until it meets the 

Teak. 

main stream, where it is gathered into 
rafts and sent on its way down the Menam to Bang- 
kok. Here it is exported to the principal countries 
of the world, India and Europe, however, being 
Siam's best customers for this article. The quan- 
tities exported during the past three years are as 
follows: 1900, 45,261 tons; 1901, 43,735 tons ; 1902, 
56,075 tons. 

Siam has a considerable export trade in marine 
products — beche-de-mer, dried and salt 

^ ' Other 

fish, fish maws, prawns, sharks' fins, turtle Goods. 

shells, and ray skins. 

Pepper is exported largely from Bangkok, it being 
first removed in coasting steamers from the Chanta- 
bun district, where it is grown. Black pepper is no 
longer exported. White pepper — that is, the pepper 
with the outer husk removed — is sent year by year 



252 Kingdom of Siam 

to London, Liverpool, ports on the continent of 
Europe, and to New York and San Francisco. On 
the west coast of the peninsula pepper is also grown 
and finds its way, via Penang, to the various markets 
of the world. The export value of pepper for the 
year 1902 was equal to nearly one million ticals. 

Various sorts of wood are produced and ex- 
ported, such as agilla, sapan, padoo, yellow-wood, 
box, ebony, and rose, but the trade in these woods 
does not seem to increase, as no effort is made to 
grow them systematically. Jungle products, such 
as hides and horns, are gradually being worked out, 
and will in time disappear unless efforts are made to 
preserve the deer in the interior. Rubies and sap- 
phires are exported in a rough condition for sale on 
the London market. This trade, however, seems 
to be gradually diminishing. The silk trade looks 
to be entering on a more prosperous future. Under 
Japanese instructors the Siamese are developing the 
production of this article, and it is hoped that in 
time it will become one of Siam's most important 
industries. 

Bullocks are exported to Singapore. This trade is 
not improving, for various reasons. Disease has un- 
fortunately year by year prevented the exportation 
for some months at a time. The trade is a profit- 




< 



Commerce 253 

able one, and every effort is made by the dealers 
to secure animals, but up to the present cattle- 
breeding is not sufficiently organized to create 
a permanent supply, hence this branch runs the 
risk of extinction by the exhaustion of the supplies 
available. 

The imports of Siam cover the whole field of 
manufactured articles, and they are drawn from 
almost every part of the globe. Cotton 

1 1 11 1 1 • • 1 Imports. 

goods bulk largely m every imported 
cargo of general goods. They come principally from 
England, India, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Ger- 
many, France, and Denmark, being almost invari- 
ably transshipped at Singapore, and from America 
and Japan, coming via Hong-Kong. Cotton goods 
are amongst the most valuable imported. The 
people are year by year demanding more cloth- 
ing, as the fashion for wearing foreign cloth extends 
gradually over the whole interior. The printed 
cottons for nether garments, called by the Siamese 
'' palais " or ^'patas," come principally from India and 
Switzerland, while the plain woven patterns in one 
color come from Britain and Switzerland, India not 
competing. Singapore seems to be the market for 
Siam to buy its gray and white shirting in ; ninety 
per cent, of the importation comes from that port, 



254 Kingdom of Siam 

The countries of production vary, but Manchester 
and Indian goods seem to predominate, Holland 
and Germany being the only two countries to 
compete. 

Silk piece-goods are imported mostly from Hong- 
Kong and are used for clothing by the local Chinese. 
Half the importation is exported after being dyed 
black. This dyeing trade in Siam has been going 
on for years. A berry which grows in the jungle 
produces the dye, which does not keep in fit con- 
dition for any length of time, and it is therefore 
necessary to bring the cloth to the place where the 
dye is made. 

Books and printed matter are supplied mostly 
from England. 

Denmark sends Siam her cement. Chemical pro- 
ducts come from Singapore, Hong - Kong, and 
Britain. 

China sends her earthenware. Electrical goods 
are equally supplied by the United States, Britain, 
and Germany. 

Fifteen different countries help to supply the 
Siamese market with hardware and cutlery, Ger- 
many, Britain, and China taking the lead. 

Hats and caps and household furniture are sup- 
plied from Hong-Kong and China. 



Commerce 255 

Lamps and parts are imported from Hong-Kong, 
Germany, and the United States. 

Machinery is supplied by Germany, Britain, and 
the United States. 

Oil (burning) is now almost exclusively supplied 
from Sumatra. 

Provisions, vegetables, etc., come from Hong- 
Kong and China. 

Though tobacco is locally grown it still takes over 
seventeen different countries to supply the Siamese 
with his tobacco; Hong-Kong, however, furnishes 
by far the largest portion, but this Hong-Kong 
tobacco comes in great part originally from the 
United States. 

The Siamese, though great smokers, do not drink 
so much spirit as the people of the West. Ger- 
many, France, and England supply beer, whiskey, 
and brandy, but the rice spirit, known as '' samshoo," 
is supplied exclusively from Hong-Kong and China. 
The balance of trade lies entirely with Siam, whose 
exports exceeded its imports in value by no less than 
thirty per cent, in 1902. This varies, of course, 
year by year with the rain supply, but it never has 
gone the other way so far. 

The number of vessels entered at the port of 
Bangkok during the year 1902 was "J2'j, five of 



256 Kingdom of Siam 

which were sailing vessels. The tons of shipping 
represented by the above amounted to 631,458. 
Besides the above, fifty-three junks entered with 
cargo from China. The German vessels hold the 
lead in Bangkok shipping. The two principal lines 
to Singapore and to Hong-Kong sail under that flag. 
Two Chinese-owned steamers trade between Bang- 
kok and Singapore under the British flag, but lat- 
terly that flag has dropped to the third place in the 
customs statistics, as the number of Norwegian 
steamers has increased greatly during the past two 
years. This is due to the Chinese exporters of rice 
desiring to have steamers under their own control 
so as to take every advantage of the market when 
favorable either in Singapore, Hong-Kong, or any 
other neighboring port. As many as twenty vessels 
have been in the Menam at one time during the past 
year, and as they discharge and load by means of 
cargo boats the river is at times alive with craft and 
presents a most busy appearance. The vessels do 
not load up at Bangkok. They must cross the bar 
light and fill up at the outer anchorage — Kohsichang 
Island or Anghin Head, according to the monsoon. 
Lorchas or large sailing lighters with a few steam 
tug-barges are engaged in carrying cargo to those 
anchorages, to be there transshipped. A French 




o 

z 
< 



Commerce 257 

liner runs regularly between Bangkok and Saigon 
carrying the mail. Its trade is, however, insignifi- 
cant. 

The caravan trade in the interior was at one time 
a large and flourishing one. Latterly it has 
dwindled away until now it is really of no import- 
ance. The route from Moulmein to Raheng is the 
busiest one, but the total import by that route last 
year did not amount in value to more than 100,000 
ticals. About 60,000 of these were for cotton 
goods generally, 20,000 were for gold leaf and jew- 
elry, and the remainder brassware, etc. In return 
there were exported by this route bullocks and 
ponies to the value of 12,000 ticals, and native-made 
dresses of silk and cotton, called "panungs," to the 
value of 40,000 ticals. The caravan route from 
China to Chieng Mai and Nan is of no importance. 
The travellers coming that way are mere hucksters 
who buy and sell as they travel along. They will 
soon have to give way before the importation of 
European goods, which in a short time, by means 
of the rapidly advancing railway, will spread far and 
wide over the northern parts of the country. Mean- 
time it is a most expensive operation to move goods 
to the north by boat. 

In conclusion it is evident that Siam has every 

17 



258 



Kingdom of Siam 



prospect of a great commercial future. The admin- 
istration is being rapidly improved, each department 
getting its due share of attention. The security 
due to good government will help to encourage 
trade and enable European and American goods to 
be within the reach of all. In return Siam can feed 
the East and can supply the European market with 
rice of a very fine quality, with teak-wood, and with 
silk, each of which has hardly a rival. The tables 
shown hereunder will prove that it is no vain boast 
to predict an important commercial advance in the 
near future. 

Table A. — Values of Principal Exports 



Rice 

Teak 

Tin 

Bullocks 

Fish (Fresh, Dried, and Salt), 

Mussels, etc 

Birds' Nests 

Sticklac 

Gamboge and Gum Benjamin. . . 

Teel-Seed .... 

Hides and Horns 

Woods Other than Teak 

Pepper 



1900 



Ticals 

37,469.597 

5,499,134 

13,343 

817,247 

2,039,426 

197,273 

164,715 

27,710 

137,760 

777,519 
513,046 
785,525 



1901 



Ticals 

60,268,327 

4,214,077 

112,247 

575,970 

2,911,671 
402,552 
292,718 

15,113 
126,415 

789,958 

500,180 

1,435,120 



1902 



Ticals 

69,846,978 
6,546,633 

172,341 
556,350 

2,130,663 
268,635 

376,779 

29,681 

79,502 

1,266,661 

513,713 
990,266 



Commerce 



259 



Table B. — Values of Principal Imports 



Cotton Goods 
Silk Goods.. . , 
Gunny-Bags . , 
Petroleum. . . , 
Machinery.. . . 

Sugar 

Liquors 

Opium , 



I goo 



Ticals 

5,831,961 
2,084,059 
1,539,902 
1,648,622 
1,302,342 

1,714,833 
1,079,018 
2,377,240 



igoi 



Ticals 

8,347,904 
1,822,116 

2,345,963 
1,108,133 
1,992,098 
1,449,630 

1,037,553 
2,163,277 



1902 



Ticals 

10,497,623 
1,976,231 
2,888,703 
1,136,060 
2,035,844 
2,061,257 
939,202 
2,091,578 




CHAPTER XIX 

THE INDUSTRIES OF SIAM 



261 




CHAPTER XIX 



THE INDUSTRIES OF SIAM, BY THE SECRETARY- 
GENERAL 

SIAM is emphatically an agricultural country and 
not a manufacturing one. This may be ac- 
counted for partly by its geological formation, 
partly by its climate, and partly by the scantiness 
of its population. 

The greater part of Siam, in fact nearly the whole 
of Lower Siam, is alluvial, and up to the present 
coal has not yet been found In paying quantities in 
any part of the kingdom, the consequence being 
that the only native fuel, except the husks of the 
rice, is wood, the price of which as a fuel has stead- 
ily increased and is likely to still further increase. 
The climate being tropical is an important factor in 
the readiness of the people to submit to continuous 
manual labor, and the needs of a tropical population 
are so much fewer than those of a people to whom 
artificial warmth is an absolute necessity. 

263 



264 Kingdom of Siam 

The vast extent of land suitable for agricultural 
operations offers to those willing to work a more 
attractive career than toiling for a daily wage. 

The mills for rice and teak probably are the 
largest employers of day labor, the number of 
rice-mills in Bangkok being thirty-six and sawmills 
eleven. The steam rice-mills run continuously day 
and night, employing two shifts, but the sawmills 
work only by day. 

The trained hands are employed continuously, 
but the number of unskilled laborers varies from 
day to day. A large proportion of these laborers 
are Chinese, particularly those employed in shifting 
the grain from the boats to the mill and back again, 
all of which work is performed by hand. The 
estimated number of hands, skilled and unskilled, 
employed in the mills is about ten thousand. 

Fishing is another industry of great importance. 
The greater part of the fish caught is dried or 
salted, and a large export is done in various kinds of 
preserved fish to Singapore and Hong-Kong. 

The favorite method of catching fish is by gigantic 
traps. These traps are constructed of bamboos 
fixed upright in the shallow water; a long V-shaped 
neck, with an opening sometimes extending to a 
quarter of a mile, leads into a compartment some 




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Tne Industries of Siam 265 

sixty feet square by a narrow aperture. The fish, 
guided by the walls of the V, are caught in the trap, 
which is netted every two or three days. 

The amount of fish caught annually is enormous; 
not only is it eaten fresh or dry at every meal by 
the inhabitants of Lower Siam, but there is a large 
surplus for export. 

Boat-building is perhaps the most widely ex- 
tended industry, being carried on over the whole 
country, each district building the boats adapted to 
the local needs. In the capital a large number of 
steam launches and small sailing lighters are built. 
Ship-building, which was formerly an important 
industry, has disappeared with the introduction of 
iron steamers. 

The manufacture of spirits is a state monopoly 
and is farmed out to the spirit farmers in every pro- 
vince. Licenses to conduct a distillery are issued 
to any one applying, but the spirits must be sold at 
a rate fixed by the farmer, who usually takes the 
whole output. 

Sugar of a coarse quality is also largely manufac- 
tured from the sugar-cane; there is no direct tax on 
its manufacture, but it can only be sold in pots 
supplied by the government manufactories. 

Salt is extracted from sea-water at various places 



266 Kingdom of Siam 



along the coast. These salt farms are situated on 
low lands near the coast, which are flooded at high 
tide ; each field is surrounded by a bank of earth 
which retains the water. The sea-water is admitted 
at high tide and allowed to evaporate by the heat of 
the sun, and the field filled up with fresh sea-water 
from time to time till the brine is sufficiently strong 
to crystallize, 

A large amount of coarse, unglazed earthenware is 
made — large jars of fifteen to twenty gallons' capac- 
ity for storing water, pots for boiling rice, small 
charcoal stoves, tiles for roofing, etc. Except the 
large jars, known as Siam jars, few of these articles 
are exported. 

Weaving exists only as a home industry ; the silk 
is produced in Siam (see sericulture), but the yarn is 
imported, chiefly from India. 

Two minor industries are the collection of gum 
benjamin and gamboge; gum benjamin is indige- 
nous to the north of Siam, and gamboge grows only 
on the coast. These valuable resins are obtained 
from their respective tree by making incisions in 
the bark and allowing the resin to ooze slowly out, 
where it is collected in hollow bamboos and sent to 
Bangkok for export. 

Although silkworms have always been cultivated 



The Industries of Siam 267 

in Siam and a large amount of silk produced for 
home use, there has been but little export, and the 
value of raw silk exported has seldom been over 
20,000 ticals per annum. 

The Government have now taken the matter in 
hand, and a special department of sericulture has 
been organized under the Ministry of c ,* 

o J Sericulture 

Agriculture. Japanese experts have been Department, 
engaged to introduce the latest scientific methods 
and two experimental farms have been started. 

The native grains or eggs are of a flat, ovoidal 
shape and a light yellow color, which turns to 
grayish-blue when they begin to hatch. 
The average weight of the grains is 
0.04527 gr. per hundred, and their average length 
and breadth 1.15 mm. and 0.98 mm., respectively. 

These grains are smaller than either Japanese or 
Chinese grains, and in consequence produce smaller 
worms. 

When hatched, the worm is about 2 mm. in 
length and reaches maturity in about 

, Worms. 

one month. 

Compared with foreign varieties their growth is 
very rapid, while the weight of leaves consumed is 
about one half. They are extremely healthy and 
the amount of disease small. 



268 Kingdom of Siam 

The average number of eggs deposited by a native 
moth is from 260 to 350. 

The cycle of the Siamese variety is as follows : 

Egg Stage 10 days 

Larva .0 25-32 ' ' 

Pupa 10-12 ' ' 

Moth (Image) 3-4 " 

Total 48-58 days 

It is thus possible to rear these worms seven to 
eight times a year, provided a sufficient crop of 
mulberry leaves can be obtained. 

According to the results obtained at the Govern- 
ment Experimental Station, it requires twelve to 
sixteen kilos of leaves to produce one kilo of silk. 

The cocoons of the Siamese varieties are long, 
ellipsoidal, tapering and pointed at both 
ends, and surrounded by much floss. 

The length of silk per cocoon is from 200 to 250 
metres, and the yield of silk is as follows : 

370 grams silken matter 
630 " non-silken matter 

1000 grams cocoons 

One kilo of fresh cocoons yielded 

75 grams good raw silk 
40-45 " inferior raw silk 
4-5 " waste silk 




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The Industries of Siam 269 

Under scientific methods the amount of good raw 
silk has already been increased by thirty per cent. 

The two known kinds of native worms are (i) 
plain white ; (2) vers tigr^s. 

The first (plain white) is the better variety and 
yields silk twenty-seven to forty-five per cent, 
longer per cocoon than the latter variety. 

The size of the have is smaller than that of foreign 
varieties and yields a fine raw silk, which 

The Bave. 

has a higher market value than larger- 
sized raw silk. 

In Siam it is found that one rai of land {1600 
square metres) will yield about 2000 kilos of mul- 
berry leaves, and 14 kilos of leaves pro- 

•^ ^ ^ Rearing. 

duce one kilo of cocoons, yielding 75 to 
78 grams of good raw silk, hence one rai of land 
will give between 10 and 11 kilos of raw silk per 
annum, valued at 200 to 300 ticals. 

The cost of reeling the silk on a large scale is 
about nine ticals per kilo. 

It is the intention of the Government to foster 
the silk industry in every possible way among the 
farmers, who will be encouraged to plant mulberry^- 
trees and rear the worms under scientific methods, 
in which they will be instructed either at the experi- 
ment stations or by travelling instructors. If 



270 Kingdom of Siam 

found desirable, the Government will erect a large 
central station for reeling the cocoons in order to 
obtain silk of fixed qualities. 

Formerly a large amount of paper was made in 
Paper- Siam, but owing to the import of cheap 

ma ing. foreign paper this industry has greatly 
declined and only a small quantity is now produced. 

The paper is made from the bark of the koi-tree 
{Streblus asperd), which grows wild in Upper Siam, 
and from there is brought down to Bangkok. The 
bark is first dipped in a strong solution of lime and 
allowed to drain, exposed to the air; is then steamed 
for twenty-four hours, and the soft fibre collected 
in jars ; from them it is taken out and beaten to 
pulp by mallets on a flat board ; when completely 
pulped it is made into balls, each about the size of 
a cricket-ball. 

The paper-maker takes one of these balls and 
places it in a bucket made of woven bamboo, which 
he dips full of water and stirs up the pulp with his 
hand. This work is generally done on the edge of 
a stream or pond. He then floats in front of him a 
wooden tray, the bottom of which is coarse canvas. 
By a dexterous movement he pours the bucket of 
liquid pulp into the tray so as to cover it evenly 
with pulp ; he then lifts out the tray, drains it, and 




A Ruined Temple 



The Industries of Siam 271 

presses the superfluous water out of the pulp with 
a bamboo roller. The pulp adheres to the canvas, 
and the tray is set up on end and allowed to dry for 
twenty-four hours. The paper is then stripped off, 
covered with fine rice starch, polished with a smooth 
stone, and made into long, folded books. 

Should the paper be required to have a smooth 
black surface the starch is mixed with fine charcoal 
made from the Acschynoinerne aspera ; the paste is 
then spread over the rough paper and polished. 

The casting of bronze figures has been an art in 
Siam from time immemorial. The process followed 
is always that of cire fondit. The artist bronze and 

Terra-Cotta 

first models the figure in clay coated with work, 

wax, then coats it again in clay, and by the applica- 
tion of heat allows the wax to run out; separate 
tubes are made to allow the metal to find its way to 
the smaller parts of the figure. The founder, who 
is generally the artist himself, then pours in the 
molten metal, and when cool the mould is broken 
and the figure cleaned and polished ; each figure is 
thus an original work, and a new wax model is made 
by the artist for each. A few years ago, Phra Pra- 
siddhi cast a figure of the Buddha for the Wat Ben- 
chamabophit, the base of which was nine feet six 
inches and the height twelve feet, which is one of 



272 



Kingdom of Siam 



the finest modern statues of Siam. Terra-cotta 
figures are made by the aitist, who also superintends 
the burning, assisted by his pupils. Unfortunately 
sufificient care is not taken in the selection and 
cleansing of the clay so that when baked the color 
of the figures is not even. 




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